them to believe that the British wanted confidence in their own strength. At night they would have drawn off, and the General would then have been obliged to fight a desperate battle in a position more favourable to the enemy, under the guns of Gawilghur. Accordingly he marched on in one column, the British cavalry leading in a direction nearly parallel to the enemy's front, while his rear and left were covered by the Mogul and Mysore cavalry.

The enemy's line extended above five miles, their infantry and guns being in the left of their centre, with a body of cavalry on their flank. On their right was Scindiah's army, consisting of one very heavy body of horse, and beyond that again was a mass of Pindarries and other light troops. In their rear was the village of Argaum, and in their front a plain, which was broken and intersected by many water-courses.

About half a mile from the enemy's centre stood Sersooly, in front of which it was intended to form the line of the Anglo-Indian army. For this purpose the right column of infantry, composed of the General's own division, marched upon that village, but before the leading platoon could wheel and take ground to the right, the enemy opened all their guns upon it, and two battalions of Sepoys, with the infantry picquets, broke, and sought shelter behind the houses. Fortunately the General was near the spot, under a tree, giving orders to the brigadiers. He immediately stepped out in front, hoping by his presence to restore their confidence; but finding this example ineffectual, he mounted his horse, and instead of upbraiding them for their cowardice, rallied them under cover of the village, and leading them round the other side

BATTLE OF ARGAUM.

57

of it, formed them on the very spot he originally intended them to occupy. The remainder of the column followed, and prolonged the line to the right.

This was a masterpiece of generalship, and evinced a profound knowledge of human nature, which could only have existed in the mind of genius. It was attended, too, with this advantage: the enemy continued to direct their guns for some time on the spot where they first saw the column, so that the General had time to take up his position, and he formed the army in two lines, the infantry being in the first, supported on the rear of the right by his own cavalry, and on the left by the Mogul and Mysore horse. During these movements two strong batteries had been planted on either side of the village, when, all being completed, the infantry marched forward in the greatest order, with their guns placed in the intervals. From these a rapid fire was kept up till the advancing line came within musket-shot of the enemy; the former then charged, and, after a short and ineffectual resistance, drove their antagonists from the field. The only part that fairly stood their ground was a body of about one thousand men, called the Pharsee Risaulah, or Persian battalion, who, throwing aside their match-locks, advanced, like the Highlanders of old, with sword and buckler, and flung themselves with fury on the 74th and 78th Regiments. The musket and the bayonet prevailed, and this gallant body was almost entirely destroyed.

The event of the battle was the same on the left of the British line. On all sides the enemy were repulsed, and retired in disorder, leaving upwards of twenty standards, about thirty-eight pieces of cannon, and all their stores and ammunition, in the hands of

58

MARCH TO GAWILGHUR.

the victors. Both in the conflict and in the subsequent flight their loss was severe; the field of battle was strewed with arms and with nearly one thousand sundial turbans, like those worn by the Bengal army; while so little had the Anglo-Indian army suffered that they did not count more than one hundred and fifty at the utmost killed and wounded. Had the battle begun earlier in the day, the results would have been yet more decisive. As it was, the infantry kept the field under arms till a late hour, while, by the light of the moon, the cavalry pursued and cut to pieces the broken squadrons.

CHAPTER V.

1803,

March to Gawilghur.- Description of the Fortress.-Siege and Capture of Gawilghur.- Immolation of the Rajpoot Wives and Daughters.-Peace concluded with the Rajah of Berar.-Treaty with Scindiah and the Anglo-Indian Government.

THE first consequence of this decided victory was the mission of Vakeels to the British camp, from Scindiah and the Rajah of Berar, to negotiate a peace, But the General was determined on ample compensation, and as the Vakeels were not authorised to grant it, he marched with both divisions in two columns to Gawilghur, having in his way established a hospital for his wounded, in the town of Ellichpoor, the capital of a rich and fertile province.

Gawilghur, which was now the object of the British General, is a hill fort, the principal stronghold of the Berar Rajah, and lies between the sources of the Poorna and Taptee rivers. It stands upon an emi

FORTRESS OF GAWILGHUR.

59

nence, shaped something like the figure 8, except that the two parts are not exactly of the same dimensions; the larger segment, with the citadel, juts out into the plain; the smaller, or outward fort, is connected with the table-land to the northward by a narrow isthmus, about three hundred yards in breadth, and thus covers the citadel to the northwest and north. A triple line of strong high walls, fortified with ramparts and towers, defends the approach to it by Labada.

The communications are by three gates; one with the citadel to the south; one with the outer fort to the north-west; and one with the third wall to the north. The ascent to the first from the vale below is long and steep, and practicable for men only; that to the second is by a road, which the garrison use in their common intercourse with the countries to the southward, but it passes round the west side of the fortress, and is exposed to its fire for a great distance, besides that the rock is scarped on each side, and the way is so narrow as to make a regular approach im→ possible. The communication with the north gate is direct from Labada, and here the ground is on a level with the fort; but as the road to that village passes from Ellichpoor through the mountains for about thirty miles, there would be great difficulty in bringing up the stores and the artillery.

Yet, notwithstanding such objections, this last road seemed to offer the most advantageous point of approach, and it was accordingly resolved that Colonel Stevenson should make the real attack by Labada, while the General diverted the attention of the besieged by feints upon the south and westward. It was first, however, requisite to drive the enemy from

60

SIEGE OF GAWILGHUR.

the ground they occupied in the plain, and to seize the fortified village of Damergaum, that commanded the entrance of the mountain-pass, which being effected both divisions marched from Ellichpoor to take up their positions.

With infinite labour the stores and ordnance were now dragged by hand, for many miles, through ravines and over mountains, there being no road except that which the troops cut for themselves as they proceeded. And all this was to be done while the thermometer was upwards of 100° in the shade during the day, and was as low as the freezing-point at night. At length this, the most arduous part of their task, was accomplished, and in less than eightand-forty hours a breach in the outer wall was reported practicable. While, therefore, the General's division commenced their false attacks, under Lieutenant Colonel Wallace on the south gate, and under Lieutenant Colonel Chalmers on the northwest, the assailants on the table-land prepared to storm the fortress. Seeing these preparations, the Killadar sent out a flag of truce, to say that he was willing to capitulate. The reply was, that he must surrender at discretion, and that half-an-hour only would be given him for reflection.

The time had nearly expired, when, instead of the troops retiring from the breach, a fresh body was seen advancing towards it from the gate of the citadel, the Killadar's fears or prudence being controlled by the desperate courage of Benee Syng, a native of high caste, who had commanded under the Rajah at the battle of Argaum. At this apparent want of good faith, Colonel Stevenson gave the signal for the attack, and in a few minutes, after a feeble resistance,