In April, 1807, more than half the surviving officers and men were suffering from disease, when an order arrived for the remainder to march to the coast of Malabar, and occupy quarters at the port of Cannanore, where the regiment was stationed upwards of eighteen months.
1808
At Cannanore the health of the men was restored, and when inspected in 1808, by Colonel Cuppage, a district order was published, in which the colonel expressed 'his thanks to Captain Eustace and the officers and men of His Majesty's Twelfth regiment, for their handsome appearance at the review. The dress, steadiness, and general appearance of the men, marked the great attention paid to their discipline, and their uniform good conduct and friendly disposition towards the natives reflect every credit on the corps.'
While the Twelfth foot were at Cannanore, some disputes, of a tedious and complicated character, occurred between the British and the Rajah of Travancore, a province situate at the south-west extremity of Hindoostan. In 1795, a treaty of alliance was concluded between the British and the Rajah, who agreed to subsidize three battalions of Sepoys for the defence of his dominions; when the disputes with the Rajah came to a crisis, these battalions were at the port of Coulan (or Quilon), and they were threatened with destruction by the natives, together with every person in the British interest. While the execution of these menaces was delayed, the Twelfth regiment embarked, towards the end of December, 1808, in potamars (small undecked vessels), to proceed along the coast a distance of three hundred miles to Coulan, in the Travancore country. Four of these boats, having three companies and a half on board, arrived at their destination in a few days, and were immediately landed, to the great joy of the Sepoys. A severe gale of wind dispersed the boats containing the other companies of the regiment, and several of them were wrecked on the coast of Cochin, a small province on the north of Travancore, but by great exertions the soldiers were saved; others gained the port of Cochin, where they remained until the storm was over. One potamar, containing Serjeant-Major Tilsey and thirty-three rank and file, was driven on the coast of Travancore, near Alleppi, when the natives sent off several small canoes. The soldiers, believing they had arrived at the friendly port of Coulan, went on board the canoes two or three at a time, but on landing they were overpowered by the natives, their wrists broken with an iron bar, their hands tied behind them, and they were cast into a dungeon, where they remained several days without food. They were afterwards conducted, when scarcely able to walk, to a high ground near the sea, and precipitated into a watery grave. The serjeant-major was reserved to the last, and as he witnessed his companions in arms successively hurled headlong into the deep, he struggled to release himself, and tore pieces of flesh from his shoulders with his teeth, exclaiming 'Let me die like a soldier!' but the barbarians derided him, and eventually put an end to his torments in the same manner as the others. A negro youth, who accompanied this portion of the regiment as cook, witnessed this tragic scene, and was menaced with the same fate, but was spared, and he afterwards made known the fate of the party. Another potamar, having nearly a company on board, under Lieutenant George Blanchard Gray and Adjutant Hayes, approached the coast a few miles from Coulan, and were, in consequence of the shattered state of the vessel, deciding on the propriety of landing, when a volley of musketry from the shore announced the hostile intentions of the natives. The vessel was bound together with some large tents, to prevent its splitting, and it arrived safely at Cochin, but went to pieces in the harbour. All the potamars being damaged, other vessels were procured to continue the voyage.
The officers and men of the regiment, who arrived at Coulan on the 29th of December, joined the Sepoys encamped near the town. On the evening of the same day, the Travancoreans attacked the piquet under Captain Clapham of the Sepoys; the fire of musketry and artillery indicating a sharp conflict, Lieut.-Colonel Chalmers, commanding the troops at that station, detached Ensign James Keappock, and forty men of the Twelfth, to support the Sepoys, and the enemy was forced to retire, leaving about eighty men dead on the scene of conflict.
The Travancoreans were excited to rage and fury against the British, who had thus gained a footing in the heart of their country; they assembled in immense multitudes before the camp, kept up an incessant fire on the piquets, and heavy columns menaced the encampment; the soldiers were thus kept constantly ready for action, and they lay on their arms night and day.
1809
On the 8th of January, 1809, the remainder of the regiment arrived at Coulan, excepting one company, commanded by Lieutenant Thomas Thompson, left with six hundred Sepoys and several guns for the defence of Cochin. The men of the Twelfth, with the Sepoys and guns which had arrived, were landed as expeditiously as possible; but the force was obliged to remain encamped on a sandy plain near the sea, enclosed by an almost impenetrable forest of cocoa-nut trees, from the want of means for carrying on active operations. The Resident prohibited the felling of the trees to conciliate the natives; but this produced no advantage, and the wood afforded shelter to the Travancorean marksmen, who annoyed the camp with their fire, keeping the troops in a constant state of alarm; the outposts were also frequently attacked by parties of the enemy.
Before daylight, on the 15th of January, a tumultuous noise in the wood proclaimed the approach of an immense number of men, and at break of day the Travancoreans commenced an attack along the whole front of the British line, at the same time heavy columns were seen among the trees threatening both flanks. Thinking the attack was a surprise, the enemy fired his artillery at the tents; but when sufficient light enabled the Travancoreans to see the British ranks, they immediately directed their guns on the Twelfth regiment, as if desirous of annihilating the Europeans first. Thus perilously exposed to the enemy's numerous artillery, the British instantly advanced the right wing of the Twelfth and two battalions of Sepoys against the enemy's left, and the left wing of the Twelfth, with one battalion of Sepoys, against the right of the enemy's line. The whole force was instantly brought into close action; but the British had only five small field-pieces to answer the fire of the forty guns brought into action by the enemy: the British musketry was, however, well directed, and the incessant peals which echoed in the woods announced a vigorous contest, which was continued for several hours, during which clouds of barbed arrows, from the enemy's local troops, inflicted painful wounds on the British soldiers. About mid-day, the Twelfth were ordered to charge with bayonets, and capture the enemy's artillery; they rushed forward with distinguished bravery, the soldiers shouting "Remember our murdered comrades at Alleppi!" as they precipitated themselves upon their opponents. The Travancoreans made a resolute defence, many of them being bayoneted at their guns; and a discharge of grape-shot, from one field-piece, killed eleven grenadiers of the Twelfth regiment. During this contest many distinguished acts of gallantry were displayed by the officers and men, and Ensign Keappock, being attacked by two opponents, slew them. Finally both wings of the regiment were triumphant; heaps of Travancoreans fell beneath the bayonets of the Twelfth, who captured eighteen brass field-pieces. The loss of these guns intimidated the enemy, who retired about three o'clock in the afternoon, leaving five thousand killed and wounded on the field of battle. The British were unable to follow up the advantage, from the want of stores, which prevented their quitting the coast.
The enemy appears to have been very confident of success on this occasion, and to have been intent on the annihilation of the Europeans; several Travancoreans of their Carnatic brigade were taken prisoners, and ropes being found in their possession, they were questioned on the subject, when they confessed that the cords were brought for the purpose of hanging the British soldiers, and that the British officers were to have been trampled to death by elephants.