only mustered three hundred and sixty-nine men fit for duty; the
pressure of the service did not, however, admit of delay, and all
who were able to march, advanced up the country under the command
of Lieut.-Colonel James Stuart, and joined the army commanded by
Lieut.-General Sir Eyre Coote, K.B., at Chincleput, a town and
fortress on the north-east bank of the Palar river, thirty miles
from Madras. Chincleput served as a place of arms, and a refuge for
the natives, during the war with Hyder Ali. The soldiers of the
regiment suffered from having been so long on salt provision; they
were also sinewy and robust men, and were more susceptible of the
sun’s violence than men of slender habits. Sir Eyre Coote ordered
them into quarters, leaving the few, who were healthy, attached
to M^c Leod’s Highlanders (now seventy-first regiment) the only
European corps then with the army. The men gradually recovered,
and in October six hundred rank and file were fit for duty; their
constitutions became accustomed to the climate, and their health
and efficiency were afterwards preserved under fatigues and
privations calculated to exhaust the physical powers of Europeans
when endured under an Indian sun.
[Sidenote: 1783]
Six hundred gallant Highlanders appeared in the field, arrayed
under the colours of the regiment, to engage in Indian warfare,
and on the 10th of April, 1783, when they joined the army
assembling under Major-General Stuart, their appearance excited
great interest. This force consisted of the seventy-third, and
SEVENTY-EIGHTH Highlanders, the hundred and first regiment, a
considerable body of native troops and a detachment of Hanoverians,
under Colonel Wangenheim; it was destined for the attack of the
fortress of _Cudalore_ in the Carnatic, situate on the western
shore of the bay of Bengal, which had been taken by the French in
1782. On the 6th of June, 1783, the army took up a position two
miles from the town, having its right on the sea, and its left on
the Bandipollum hills; the enemy under General Bussy occupied a
position half a mile in front of the fort.
On the 13th of June a general attack was made on the French line,
on which occasion the gallant bearing of the Highlanders was
conspicuous, and the ardour and intrepidity they evinced, gave
presage of that renown which the two corps (now seventy-first and
SEVENTY-SECOND) afterwards acquired. The action commenced about
four o’clock in the morning, and was continued until near two in
the afternoon, during which time the French were driven from the
principal defences on their right. Major-General Stuart designed to
renew the attack on the following morning; but the French retreated
into the fortress during the night.
The regiment had Captain George Mackenzie and nine rank and file
killed; Lieutenants Patrick Grant and Malcomb M^c Pherson, two
serjeants, and twenty-eight rank and file wounded; two men missing.
Major-General Stuart stated in his public despatch--“Nothing, I
believe, in history, ever exceeded the heroism and coolness of
this army in general, which was visible to every one, for the
action lasted from four in the morning to two in the afternoon.”
The Major-General also stated in Orders:--“The Commander-in-chief,
having taken time minutely to investigate the conduct and execution
of the orders and plan in attacking the enemy’s posts, lines, and
redoubts, on the 13th instant, with the comparative strength in
numbers and position of the enemy, composed almost entirely of the
best regular troops of France, takes this occasion to give it as
his opinion to this brave army in general, that it is not to be
equalled by anything he knows, or has heard of, in modern history.”
The conduct of Lieut.-Colonel James Stuart of the regiment was
commended in the Major-General’s despatch and in Orders.
On the morning of the 25th of June the French made a sally from the
fortress; but were repulsed with severe loss; Colonel the Chevalier
de Damas was among the prisoners taken on this occasion.[8]
The siege of Cudalore was soon afterwards terminated by the arrival
of news from Europe of a treaty of peace having been concluded
between England and France.
In the meantime Hyder Ali had died, in December, 1782, and was
succeeded, in the government of the Mysore, by his son, Tippoo
Saib; who, being deprived of his French allies by the peace,
entered into negociations for terminating the war between Mysore
and the British, and an armistice took place.
Colonel Humberston was wounded in an action at sea, on the coast of
India, and died, in his twenty-eighth year, universally lamented,
as a young man of superior accomplishments, and of great promise in
his profession. He was succeeded, as lieut.-colonel commandant of
the regiment, by Major-General James Murray, by commission dated
the 1st of November, 1783.
The regiment was detached from Cudalore, with other troops
amounting to about fifteen thousand men, under the command of
Colonel Fullerton, and, marching southward, was employed in
reducing to obedience several refractory chiefs. The colonel
afterwards purposed penetrating the country of Mysore, and
advancing upon Seringapatam; but he halted during the armistice
with Tippoo Saib. Negociations for peace having been broken off,
and hostilities resumed, Colonel Fullerton pursued his original
design of penetrating into the Mysore, and he resolved to take the
fortress of _Palacatcherry_, which commanded a pass between the
coasts, and secured a communication with a great extent of fertile
country. This place he designed to occupy as an intermediate
magazine, and a stronghold upon which to retreat in case of a
repulse. During the march the army encountered much difficulty from
woods and heavy rains, and a detachment under Captain Hon. Thomas
Maitland of the SEVENTY-EIGHTH (now SEVENTY-SECOND) Highlanders
performed valuable service by acting on the flanks, and preserving
a communication through thick woods and a broken country. After
taking several small forts, the army arrived, on the 4th of
November, before Palacatcherry, and on the 13th two batteries
opened their fire against the works. At night a heavy storm of
wind and rain occasioned the Mysoreans to take shelter, and leave
the covered way exposed, when Captain Hon. Thomas Maitland of the
regiment dashed forward with his flanking corps, surprised and
overpowered the Mysoreans, who fled into the fortress, leaving
the first gateway open. Captain Maitland pursued, but was stopped
at the second gateway; but he defended the post he had captured
until additional troops arrived; and the garrison, becoming alarmed
at the apprehension of a general assault, surrendered a fortress
capable of a long defence under more resolute troops.
After this success the army marched to _Coimbetore_, where it
arrived on the 26th of November, and the garrison surrendered
before a breach was made. Preparations were then commenced for
further conquests, and the capture of Seringapatam, with the
subversion of Tippoo’s power, was in full view; but at the moment
when arrangements were made for an advance, the commissioners
appointed to treat with Tippoo, sent orders for a retrograde
movement.
[Sidenote: 1784]
[Sidenote: 1785]
Peace was concluded with the ruler of the Mysore in March, 1784.
SEAFORTH’S Highlanders having been raised on condition of serving
three years, or during the war, four hundred and twenty-five men
claimed their discharge at the peace, and returned to Scotland;
the remainder volunteered to remain in India, receiving a bounty
of ten guineas; the regiment received many volunteers from the
ninety-eighth, one hundredth, and one hundred and second foot,
which corps were ordered to return to England for reduction (among
whom was a considerable number of Highlanders who had enlisted into
the hundredth regiment with Colonel Humberston), and the effective
strength was seven hundred men; which was augmented, in 1785, by
volunteers from different corps, and by recruits from Scotland, to
nearly eleven hundred non-commissioned officers and soldiers.
[Sidenote: 1786]
[Sidenote: 1787]
[Sidenote: 1788]
Many senior corps having been disbanded, the regiment was numbered,
in 1786, the SEVENTY-SECOND foot; at the same time the commission
of lieut.-colonel commandant was changed to that of colonel; and in
December, 1787, the establishment was fixed at forty-four officers,
and eight hundred and four non-commissioned officers and soldiers.
Success continued to attend the recruiting of the regiment, and the
arrival of strong healthy young men from Scotland, preserved it in
a high state of efficiency, and its discipline and moral conduct
were particularly exemplary.
[Sidenote: 1789]
The insatiable ambition of Tippoo Sultan, the powerful ruler of the
Mysore, soon involved the British government in India in another
war; he appeared near the confines of the country of Travancore,
at the head of a powerful army, made unreasonable demands on the
rajah, a British ally, and commenced hostilities towards the end of
December, 1789.
[Sidenote: 1790]
The SEVENTY-SECOND Highlanders, mustering nearly a thousand
officers and soldiers, healthy and acclimated, pitched their tents
on the plain of Trichinopoly, where an army was assembled, in the
early part of 1790, to exact full reparation of Tippoo Sultan for
his wanton and unprovoked violation of treaty in attacking the
rajah of Travancore. Major-General Medows assumed the command,
and the SEVENTY-SECOND, commanded by Captain Frazer, with the
seventy-first, and first East India Company’s European battalion,
formed the second European brigade, under Lieut.-Colonel Clarke;
Lieut.-Colonel Stuart of the SEVENTY-SECOND commanded the left wing
of the army.
Advancing from Trichinopoly plain, on the 26th of May, and
penetrating the country of the enemy, the army arrived, on the 15th
of June, at the fort of Caroor, where the troops encamped eighteen
days, while provisions were being collected, and a magazine
formed. Leaving this place on the 3rd of July, the army marched to
Daraporam, which was abandoned by the enemy; a garrison was left
at this place, and the army marched through a beautiful country
in a high state of cultivation, to the city of Coimbetore, which
was found evacuated, and some valuable stores left behind by the
enemy. On the 23rd of July, Lieut.-Colonel Stuart was detached,
with the fourth brigade of native infantry, a number of pioneers,
&c. against Palacatcherry, leaving the SEVENTY-SECOND at the camp
at Coimbetore; he was impeded by heavy rains, and, his force
proving insufficient for the capture of the place, he rejoined the
army. He was afterwards detached, with another body of troops,
against Dindigal, a strong fortress on a rock, which surrendered
on the 22nd of August. He was subsequently directed to proceed
a second time against _Palacatcherry_; and the flank companies
of the seventy-first and SEVENTY-SECOND regiments were ordered
to traverse the country and take part in the siege, when Captain
FRAZER of the SEVENTY-SECOND resigned the command of the regiment,
for that of the flank companies detached on this service.[9]
These companies left Coimbetore on the 6th of September, were
joined by Lieut.-Colonel Stuart’s division, at Podoor,[10] on the
following day, and arrived on the 10th, before the fortress of
Palacatcherry, which had been strengthened and improved since its
capture in 1783: the siege was immediately commenced. The regiment
remained at Coimbetore.
At that time the army was separated in three divisions;--one at
Coimbetore, one at Sattimungal, sixty miles in advance, and one
besieging Palacatcherry, thirty miles in the rear; and Tippoo
resolved to attack, and if possible destroy, the division in
advance before the main body could arrive to its support; but its
commander, Colonel Floyd, fell back and took up his positions
in retreat, with so much ability, that the Sultan failed in
his object. The SEVENTY-SECOND, and other corps, advanced from
Coimbetore to support Colonel Floyd’s division, and a junction was
formed at Velladi, on the 15th of September, when Tippoo retired.
On that day the flank companies, commanded by Captain Frazer, were
suddenly ordered to make a forced march to Coimbetore: if the enemy
had taken the place, to endeavour to re-capture it by surprise;
if it was invested, to force their way into it, and to defend it
to the last extremity. The march was commenced at four o’clock in
the afternoon, and the flank companies arrived at the gates of
Coimbetore at half past two o’clock on the following morning;
the enemy had not approached the place, and the companies took
possession of the fort, Captain Frazer assuming the command of all
the troops at that place.
The army returned to Coimbetore on the 23rd of September, when the
flank companies rejoined the regiment; and Lieut.-Colonel Stuart,
having captured and garrisoned Palacatcherry, arrived on the 26th
of that month.
Disappointed in his object of destroying the divisions of the
British army in detail, the Sultan resolved to attack the chain
of depôts; he gained possession of Erroad, and the stores at that
place, and afterwards marched southwards. The English army advanced
from Coimbetore on the 29th of September, and, arriving at Erroad
on the 4th of October, found the place abandoned, and Tippoo’s
army gone. He had marched in the direction of Coimbetore, but,
hearing that the garrison was augmented, he advanced rapidly upon
Daraporam, of which he gained possession on the 2nd of October.
The British army marched in search of the Sultan, traversing
extensive tracts of country, and undergoing much fatigue under
an Indian sun. In these services the SEVENTY-SECOND Highlanders
preserved a high state of discipline and efficiency. Lieut.
Campbell of the regiment stated in his journal, “We perform our
journeys with ease and comfort; marching is become familiar and
agreeable to us.” In the middle of November the army traversed
the difficult pass of Tapoor, winding through deep valleys, and
dragging the guns over precipices. On emerging from the pass,
Tippoo’s camp was seen at a distance; it was supposed to be that
of the Bengal division, under Colonel Maxwell, and three guns
were fired as a signal, when the Sultan struck his tents and
made a precipitate retreat. Colonel Maxwell’s division joined
two days afterwards, and the seventy-first, SEVENTY-SECOND,
and seventy-fourth regiments were formed in brigade under
Lieut.-Colonel Clarke, with six twelve-pounder and six six-pounder
guns attached to them.
The Sultan resolved to leave the British army in his own country,
and to invade the Carnatic, which would bring the English back for
the defence of Trichinopoly. Major-General Medows was about to
carry offensive plans into execution, when the movements of Tippoo
rendered it necessary to return to the Carnatic, and the army
arrived at the vicinity of Trichinopoly in the middle of December.
The Sultan’s success was limited to devastations and the capture of
a few posts; he was pursued as far as Trincomalee; the British army
afterwards turned off to Arnee, where the SEVENTY-SECOND regiment
arrived on the 12th January, 1791, and was encamped several days.
[Sidenote: 1791]
General Charles Earl Cornwallis, K.G., assumed the command
of the army, and some alteration was made in the disposition
of the troops; the SEVENTY-SECOND Highlanders, commanded by
Captain Frazer, continued to form, with the seventy-first and
seventy-fourth regiments, the second European brigade, under
Lieut.-Colonel Clarke, in the left wing of the army: Lieut.-Colonel
Stuart, of the SEVENTY-SECOND, commanded the right wing. The army
advanced to Vellore, where it arrived on the 11th of February,
1791. Tippoo was ready to oppose any attempt to penetrate into
the country under his dominion by the easiest passes; but Earl
Cornwallis contrived the appearance of a march towards Amboor,
which completely imposed upon the Sultan, and then turning
suddenly to the north, traversed the difficult pass of Mooglee,
without the enemy having power to offer the least obstruction, and
arrived on the 20th of February on the table-land of the Mysore. On
the 22nd of February the troops commenced their march towards the
strong fortress of _Bangalore_, where Tippoo had built a splendid
palace, with extensive gardens; and the safety of his harem, &c.,
so engrossed his attention, that he marched with his army to
accomplish the removal of his women and valuables from the palace,
and left the English at liberty to continue their march unmolested,
until they arrived within ten miles of the town. He made an attempt
on the baggage on the 5th of March, but was frustrated, on which
occasion the SEVENTY-SECOND Highlanders had a few men wounded: in
the evening the army took up a position before the town.
On the 7th of March the pettah was stormed by the thirty-sixth
regiment, supported by the third brigade of sepoys; and the siege
of Bangalore was immediately commenced. During the night, the
SEVENTY-SECOND Highlanders were posted under the outer pettah wall,
close to the gate. “The enemy kept up a sharp fire; their shots,
which were many of them thirty-two pounders, came very close to the
regiment, making a great rattling in the trees and bamboo hedge,
near the line; but no casualties occurred.”[11]
On the evening of the 10th of March, the regiment was on duty in
the trenches, the grenadier company taking the advance post, and
many of the men of the other companies working at the batteries; it
was relieved on the evening of the 12th.
During the night of the 15th of March, the troops were ordered
under arms, in consequence of circumstances indicating the approach
of Tippoo’s army; a flight of rockets came into the camp, and the
grenadiers of the SEVENTY-SECOND rushed towards the spot from
whence the rockets came; but the Mysoreans fled without waiting
the attack. At five o’clock on the following evening the regiment
marched into the pettah, and relieved the thirty-sixth on duty in
the trenches. Soon after midnight a crowd of Mysorean musketeers
entered the thick jungle near the pettah, and commenced a sharp
fire; the SEVENTY-SECOND formed behind a mud wall expecting their
post to be stormed every moment by thousands of enemies, whom they
were prepared to receive with fixed bayonets: but the Mysoreans did
not venture on so desperate an enterprise; many of the soldiers’
bayonets were hit by bullets, but not one man injured. On the
evening of the 18th the regiment was relieved and returned to camp.
At four o’clock on the afternoon of the 20th of March six companies
of the regiment marched into the trenches; and on the evening of
the following day the regiment was ordered to prepare to take
part in storming the fortress; the grenadier company was to join
the storming party appointed to advance by the left approach;
the light company that by the right approach, and the battalion
companies were formed on the right of the parallel, to support
the grenadiers: three of the SEVENTY-SECOND grenadiers joined the
forlorn hope under Serjeant Williams of the seventy-sixth regiment.
Lieutenant Campbell of the regiment states in his Journal,--“The
storming party primed and loaded, and sat down on their arms; our
batteries, both gun and mortar, kept firing frequently during
the evening. At a quarter before eleven we got into motion; an
opening was made in the centre of the second parallel; the signal
for storming was given (three guns in quick succession), and out
we rushed. The covered way instantly appeared as a sheet of fire,
seconded from the fort, but with no aim or effect; our batteries
answered with blank cartridge; and we were in the covered way in a
moment, and on the breach as quick as thought. I pushed on, carried
forward by a powerful impulse, and found myself at the top of the
breach with the front files. The grenadiers immediately turned off
to the right with a huzza; their progress was suddenly stopped
by an opening; the fort was hung with blue lights, a heavy fire
was opened upon us, but with little effect: the difficulty was
overcome, and our troops ascended the ladders with every possible
expedition. The grandest, and most striking sight I ever beheld,
was the rushing up of the troops to the top of the breach, and
the ascent of the grenadiers in crowds by the scaling-ladders.
We now heard the grenadiers’ march beating in every quarter; our
soldiers shouted with joy, and we swept round the ramparts with
scarce anything to oppose us: every enemy that appeared had a
bayonet in him instantly; the regiments that supported us came in
by the gateway, and cleared the town below, where numbers were
killed; in two hours we were in thorough possession of the fort,
and Lieutenant Duncan, of the seventy-first regiment, pulled
down the flag and put his own sash in its place. The union-flag
was afterwards hoisted, and the troops gave three cheers.”
Very extensive stores were found in the place, particularly of
ammunition. The kiledar, or governor, was killed while fighting
with three grenadiers; he was dressed in a white gown, over which
he wore a jacket of quilted purple satin.
The regiment had six rank and file killed; one serjeant and
twenty-three rank and file wounded, on this occasion.
In the Orders issued on the following day, it was stated--“LORD
CORNWALLIS feels the most sensible gratification in congratulating
the officers and soldiers of the army on the honorable issue of the
fatigues and dangers they have undergone during the late arduous
siege. Their alacrity and firmness in the execution of their
various duties has, perhaps, never been exceeded, and he shall
not only think it incumbent on him to represent their meritorious
conduct in the strongest colours, but he shall ever remember it
with the sincerest esteem and admiration.
“The conduct of all the regiments, which happened, in their
tour, to be on duty that evening, did credit in every respect
to their spirit and discipline; but _his Lordship desires to
offer the tribute of his particular and warmest praise to the
European grenadiers and light infantry of the army, and to the
thirty-sixth_, SEVENTY-SECOND, _and seventy-sixth regiments,
who led the attack and carried the fortress, and who, by their
behaviour on that occasion, furnished a conspicuous proof, that
discipline and valour in soldiers, when directed by zeal and
capacity in officers, are irresistible_.
“Lieut.-colonel Stuart (SEVENTY-SECOND regiment) maybe assured that
Lord Cornwallis will ever retain the most grateful remembrance of
the valuable and steady support which that officer afforded him,
by his military experience and constant exertions to promote the
public service.”
After the capture of the fort, the SEVENTY-SECOND Highlanders were
posted at the breach; they were relieved on the morning of the 23rd
of March, by the fifty-second regiment, and returned to the camp.
On the 28th of March, the army quitted Bangalore, to join the
forces of the Nizam, sent to co-operate with the English in this
war; and, as the troops approached the ground they purposed
encamping upon after the first march, they saw the forces of Tippoo
striking their tents, and commencing a precipitate retreat; when
the seventy-first, SEVENTY-SECOND, and seventy-fourth regiments
formed line, and advanced, supported by the native infantry of the
first line, but were unable to come up with the enemy. “The nature
of the country at this place, which presents continual ridges at
almost equal distances, made the pursuit particularly interesting;
for every new view we gained of the enemy, enlivened the soldiers
afresh, and occasioned them to push on with infinite eagerness and
ardour.”[12] A fine new brass nine-pounder gun was captured, with
a great quantity of cattle and forage; but the Sultan’s army could
not be overtaken.
The Nizam’s troops joined on the 13th of April, amounting to about
fifteen thousand horsemen, some of them, from Affghanistan, being
celebrated for valour. The army afterwards returned to Bangalore,
where preparations were made for the siege of Seringapatam, and the
army advanced upon the capital of the Mysore, on the 4th of May.
The troops marched through a difficult country destitute of forage,
and the cattle employed in conveying stores and baggage died in
great numbers; provision for the troops also became scarce.