The loss of the enemy in this affair was estimated at 4000 men and 80 pieces of cannon. That on the side of the assailants was 535 men killed and wounded. Of the 71st, Captain Sibbald and Lieutenant Baine, 2 sergeants, and 34 rank and file were killed; and Ensigns Duncan Mackenzie, and William Baillie, 3 sergeants, and 67 rank and file wounded.
On the 9th of February Major-General Robert Abercromby, with the army from Bombay, consisting of the 73d and 75th Highland, and 77th, besides some native regiments, joined the besieging army. Operations for the siege were begun the same day; but nothing particular occurred till the 18th, when Major Dalrymple, to cover the opening of the trenches, crossed the Cavery at nine o’clock at night, and surprised and routed a camp of Tippoo’s horse. During the three following days traverses were finished; and on the 22d, the enemy, after a warm contest, were defeated by a part of the Bombay army under General Abercromby. This was the last effort of the Sultan, who sued for peace, and obtained it at the expense of nearly one-half of his dominions, which he ceded to the East India Company.
On the termination of the war, the 71st, now under the command of Lieutenant-colonel David Baird, was marched to the neighbourhood of Trichinopoly, where they remained till the breaking out of the war with France, in 1793. The flank companies were employed on the expedition against Ceylon, in the month of August that year, in which enterprise Captain Gorrie was severely wounded, and 11 men were killed and wounded.
On the 2d of January 1797, the regiment was inspected by Major-general Clarke, who issued the following general order:—
“Major-General Clarke has experienced infinite satisfaction, this morning, at the review of His Majesty’s 71st regiment.
“He cannot say that on any occasion of field exercise he ever was present at a more perfect performance.
“When a corps is so striking in appearance, and so complete in every branch of its discipline, little can occur to the Commander in-chief to particularise. He cannot but notice, however, that the 71st regiment has excited his admiration for its expertness in those parts of its exercise which are most essential, and most difficult to execute. He alludes to its order and regularity when moving in line; its extreme accuracy in preserving distances, and the neatness and promptitude that are so evident in all its formations. So much perfection in a corps, whose services in India will long be held in remembrance, does the greatest honour to Lieut.-Colonel Baird and all his officers, to whom, and the corps at large, the Commander-in-chief desires to offer his best thanks.”
In October 1797, in consequence of orders, all the soldiers fit for service, amounting to 560 men, were drafted into the 73d and 74th regiments; those unfit for service, along with the officers and non-commissioned officers, sailed from Madras for England on the 17th of October, and arrived in the Thames in August 1798. The regiment was then removed to Leith, and thence to Stirling, after an absence of nearly 18 years from Scotland.[397]
As a mark of indulgence, a general leave of 2 months was granted to the officers and men of the 71st, to enable them to visit their friends and families, after so long an absence from their native country.
The regiment remained in Scotland till June, 1800, when it was removed to Ireland, having previously received an accession of 600 volunteers from the Scottish fencible regiments. This augmented the corps to 800 men, of whom 600 were Highlanders. On the 24th of April, 1801, Lieutenant-Colonel Pack joined and assumed command of the regiment. In August 1803, Major-General Sir John Francis Cradock was appointed Colonel of the 71st, in succession to General the Honourable William Gordon. A second battalion was ordered to be embodied at Dumbarton, in the year 1804. From the success with which the recruiting for this battalion was carried on in Glasgow, and the favour shown to the men by the inhabitants, the corps acquired the name of the “Glasgow Highland Light Infantry.”