With the aid of 2400 men from the fleet, under Admiral Suffrein, Bussy made a spirited sortie on the 25th of June, but was driven back with great loss. Hostilities terminated on the 1st of July in consequence of accounts of the signature of preliminaries of peace between Great Britain and France having been received. The army returned to St Thomas’s Mount at the conclusion of the definitive treaty of peace, in March, 1784.
In consequence of the arrangements made when the second battalion was reduced, the Honourable Lieutenant-Colonel George Mackenzie, and some other officers of that corps, joined the regiment in 1785. Next year the number of the regiment was changed to the 71st, on which occasion it received new colours. The same year the corps sustained a heavy loss by the death of Colonel Mackenzie, when Captain (afterwards General Sir David) Baird was appointed Major. Lord Macleod died in 1789, and was succeeded in the Colonelcy by the Honourable Major-General William Gordon. The strength of the regiment was at this time about 800 men, having been kept up to that number by occasional detachments from Scotland.
The war between Tippoo Saib and the East India Company, which broke out in 1790, brought the regiment again into active service. In May of that year, the 71st and Seaforth’s Highlanders (now the 72d), joined a large army assembled at Trichinopoly, the command of which was assumed by Major-General Meadows. The right wing was commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel James Stuart, and the left by Lieutenant-Colonel Bridges, while the two Highland regiments formed the second brigade. In the campaign against Tippoo, the 71st followed all the movements of the army. The flank companies were employed in the attack on Dundegul, and the regiment was after the capture of that place, engaged in the siege of Palacatcherry.
Lord Cornwallis joined the army early in 1791 as Commander-in-chief, and, after various movements, encamped close to Bangalore on the 5th of March. He made an assault on the 21st, and carried the place with little loss. The attack was led by the flank companies, including those of the 71st, all under the command of the Honourable John Lindsay and Captain James Robertson, son of Principal Robertson the historian.
Having obtained a reinforcement of 10,000 well-mounted native cavalry and some European troops from the Carnatic, Lord Cornwallis advanced upon Seringapatam, and on the 13th of May came within sight of the enemy, drawn up a few miles from the town, having the river on their right, and the heights of Carrighaut on their left. On the 15th the enemy were forced from a strong position, and driven across the river into the island on which the capital stands. In this affair the 71st had Lieutenant Roderick Mackenzie, and 7 rank and file killed; and Ensign (afterwards Lieutenant-Colonel of the 50th regiment[395]) Chas. Stewart, and 74 rank and file wounded.
The advanced state of the season, and other unfavourable circumstances operating against a siege, Lord Cornwallis retired to Bangalore. From this place he detached Major Gowdie to attack Nundydroog, a strong fortified granite rock of great height. Except on one side this fortress was inaccessible, and care had been taken to strengthen that part by a double line of ramparts; and an outwork covered the gate by a flanking fire. Notwithstanding its great elevation, and very steep ascent, Nundydroog could still be approached, though it required immense labour to render the approaches available. After fourteen days’ intense exertion, the besiegers succeeded in drawing up some guns, and erecting batteries on the face of a craggy precipice, from which they made two breaches, one on the re-entering angle of the outwork, and the other in the curtain of the outer wall.
Moving with his whole army towards Nundydroog, on the 18th of October, Lord Cornwallis made preparations for storming the place. An assault by night having been determined upon, Lieutenant Hugh Mackenzie, (afterwards paymaster of the 71st,) with twenty grenadiers of the 36th and 71st regiments, was to lead the attack on the right, and Lieutenant Moore, with twenty light infantry, and two flank companies of the same regiment, under the command of Lieutenants Duncan and Kenneth Mackenzie, was to lead the left. The whole was under the command of Captain (afterwards Lieutenant-General) James Robertson, supported by Captain (afterwards Major-General) Burns, with the grenadiers, and Captain Hartly with the light infantry of the 36th regiment. Whilst waiting the signal to advance, one of the soldiers whispered something about a mine. General Meadows overhearing the observation, took advantage of the circumstance, by intimating that there was a mine, but it was “a mine of gold.” This remark was not thrown away upon the troops.
Apprehensive of an assault, the enemy had provided themselves with huge masses of granite, to hurl down upon the besiegers when they should attempt to ascend the rock. The assault was made on the morning of the 19th of October, in a clear moonlight, and in spite of every obstacle the assailants effected a lodgement within one hundred yards of the breach. Driven from the outward rocks, the enemy attempted to barricade the gate of the inner rampart; but it was soon forced, and the place carried with the loss of 30 men amongst the native troops killed and wounded, principally from the stones which were rolled down the rock.
Encouraged by this success, Lord Cornwallis next laid siege to Savendroog, the strongest rock in the Mysore, and hitherto deemed impregnable. This stronghold was considerably higher than Nundydroog, and was separated by a chasm into two parts at the top, on each of which parts was a fort, but each independent of the other. The arduous duty of reducing this stronghold was intrusted to Lieutenant-Colonel Stuart, who had already distinguished himself in other enterprises. Some of the outworks were battered, preparatory to an assault, which was fixed for the 21st of December. Accordingly on the morning of that day, the flank companies of the 52d, the two Highland regiments and the 76th, were assembled under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Nisbet of the 52d, and at eleven o’clock in the forenoon, the party advanced to the assault to the air of Britons Strike Home, performed by the band of the 52d regiment. The assailants then ascended the rock, clambering up a precipice which was so nearly perpendicular, that after the capture of the place the men were afraid to descend. The citadel on the eastern top was soon carried, and eventually the whole of the rock, the assailants losing only two men. This success was soon followed by the capture of all the other strongholds in the Mysore.
Bent upon the capture of the Sultan’s capital, the possession of which would, it was supposed, finish the war, Lord Cornwallis, in the month of January 1792, put his army in motion for Seringapatam, of which place he came in sight on the 4th of February. On the evening of the 6th he formed his army into three columns; the right column consisting of the 36th and 76th regiments, being under the command of General Meadows; the centre one, consisting of the 52d, with the 71st and 74th Highland regiments, under Lord Cornwallis, with Lieutenant-Colonels James Stuart and the Honourable John Knox; and the left column, being the 72d Highland regiment under Lieutenant-Colonel Maxwell. The native troops were divided in proportion to each column. General Meadows was to penetrate the enemy’s left, after which he was to attempt to open and preserve the communication with Lord Cornwallis’s division, by directing all his efforts towards the centre. Part of the centre division, under Colonel Stewart, was to pierce through the centre of the enemy’s camp, and attack the works on the island, while Colonel Maxwell with the left wing was directed to force the works on Carrighaut Hill, and descending thence to turn the right of the main division, and unite with Colonel Stuart. The three columns began to move at eight o’clock in the evening. “The head of the centre column led by the flank companies of the regiment, after twice crossing the Lockary, which covered the right wing of the enemy, came in contact with their first line, which was instantly driven across the north branch of the Cavery, at the foot of the glacis of the fort of Seringapatam. Captain Lindsay, with the grenadiers of the 71st, attempted to push into the body of the place, but was prevented by the raising of the drawbridge a few minutes before he advanced. He was here joined by some grenadiers and light infantry of the 52d and 76th regiments. With this united force he pushed down to the Loll Bang, where he was fiercely attacked by a body of the enemy, whom he quickly drove back with the bayonet. His numbers were soon afterwards increased by the grenadier company of the 74th, when he attempted to force his way into the Pettah (or town,) but was opposed by such overwhelming numbers that he did not succeed. He then took post in a small redoubt, where he maintained himself till morning, when he moved to the north bank of the river, and joined Lieutenant-Colonels Knox and Baird, with the troops who formed the left of the attack. During these operations the battalion companies of the 52d, 71st, and 72d regiments forced their way across the river to the island, overpowering all that opposed them. At this moment, Captain Archdeacon, commanding a battalion of Bengal sepoys, was killed. This threw the corps into some confusion, and caused it to fall back on the 71st, at the moment that Major Dalrymple was preparing to attack the Sultan’s redoubt, and thus impeded his movements. However, the redoubt was attacked, and instantly carried. The command was given to Captain Sibbald, who had led the attack with his company of the 71st. The animating example and courage of this officer made the men equally irresistible in attack, and firm in the defence of the post they had gained. The enemy made several vain attempts to retake it. In one of these the brave Captain Sibbald was killed. Out of compliment to this officer, the Commander-in-chief changed the name from Sultan’s to Sibbald’s redoubt. In this obstinate defence the men had consumed their ammunition, when, by a fortunate circumstance, two loaded oxen of the enemy, frightened by the firing, broke loose from their drivers, and taking shelter in the ditch of this redoubt, afforded an ample and seasonable supply. The command of this post was assumed by Major Kelly of the 74th regiment, who had gone up with orders from the Commander-in-chief, and remained there after the death of Captain Sibbald. The Sultan seemed determined to recover this redoubt distinguished by his own name, and directed the French troops to attack it. But they met with no better success than the former, notwithstanding their superior discipline.”[396]