The Nineteenth and Their Times. J. Biddulph
during the year, between the French fleet under Suffren and the English fleet under Hughes, without any decisive result, though the balance of advantage was with the French. Trincomalee had been captured by the French, and the shattered English ships had no place nearer than Bombay where they could refit. By land, operations had been equally unsuccessful. In February, a British detachment consisting of about 100 Europeans, 1500 sepoys, 360 Cavalry, and 9 field pieces under Colonel Brathwaite, was forced to surrender to a combined Mysore and French force, and, in April, Cuddalore yielded to the same enemy. The operations of Sir Eyre Coote, who was at that time Commander in Chief in India had not been successful. In an attempt on Arnee he was outmanœuvred by Hyder, several small reverses were experienced, and, finally, he had fallen so seriously ill that he was forced to resign his command, and sail for Bengal. Negapatam was attacked by Suffren and Hyder in July, and was only saved by the timely appearance of the British fleet. To make matters worse, famine was raging in Madras. The country had been abandoned to the undisturbed possession of the enemy; great numbers of natives had flocked into the town for protection from Hyder’s Cavalry, and the ill success of our arms, together with scarcity of funds and bad management, prevented the collection of adequate supplies. “Hundreds perished daily.”[6]
In the beginning of October, there were only 30,000 bags of rice in the place, the monthly consumption being 50,000. A large quantity of rice was afloat in the roads but could not be landed, owing to all the harbour boats being taken up for the service of the fleet.[7] On 15th October, a terrible storm arose: the fleet was blown off the coast, the flag ship being so much damaged that she was kept afloat with difficulty; several merchant ships were stranded or foundered at their anchors, and all the rice afloat was lost. “The shore for several miles was covered with wrecks and with the bodies of the dead and dying.”[8] Before the storm, the Admiral had declared his intention of carrying his ships round to Bombay, and had positively refused to stop on the coast, though the absence of the fleet imperilled the safety of Madras. Some relief had been gained by the establishment of peace with the Mahrattas, in May (treaty of Salbye), though the final ratifications were not exchanged till February 1783: so that even in this quarter peace was not definitely secured.
It was under these depressing circumstances that the 23rd Light Dragoons landed in India, not to leave it again until the British arms were triumphant everywhere; a result to which the Regiment contributed in no small degree. Their arrival gave promise that future successes in the field should not be so barren in results as had frequently been the case in the past. In their dispatch of 31st October 1782, the Madras Government, showing their satisfaction at the arrival of the 23rd Light Dragoons, quote Sir Eyre Coote’s opinion that “a body of cavalry would have procured him the most solid and decisive advantages over the enemy” in the earlier operations.
The regiment landed with a strength of 360 privates fit for duty, and, by all accounts, appears to have been a splendid lot of men. Madras letters described the troops landed as “remarkably healthy, and as fine a body of men as ever came to India … particularly Burgoyne’s men, who, when mounted, will be as fine a body of men as ever went into the field.” A contemporary writer mentions them as “this sightly corps,” and Burgoyne himself, in the midst of his troubles two years later, writes, “the men are now the finest you can imagine.” Immediately after landing, firelocks were served out to the men, and a party of them were exercised in heavy gun drill. In the course of the general mismanagement that distinguished the Madras administration at that day, the regiment was first quartered in Fort St. George, in what has been described as “a suffocating bombproof, from which three or four hundred French prisoners, afflicted with various pestilential diseases had been recently removed. The consequences were such as might have been expected. A fatal mortality so much prevailed that no less than two or three of the men were daily sent to their graves.” In consequence of the scarcity of provisions, biscuit was issued to all the European troops instead of rice. After a time, the regiment was moved to San Thomé, four or five miles from Madras. The four hundred horses ordered to be in readiness for the regiment, were not forthcoming, the few horses available in Madras not being large enough to carry European dragoons. An application for horses had been made to Bengal, but received a discouraging reply. An allowance of Rs. 600 per horse was therefore made to Sir John Burgoyne, to do his best with in mounting the regiment. The Bengal government were ready to send horses but could not find means of transport. In the Calcutta Gazette for 21st December an advertisement appears, asking owners and freighters of ships to quote rates, and state what number of horses they would convey to Madras for government. A week later, the Gazette mentions that “Lt. Colonel Eyre’s regiment of (native) cavalry is arrived at Cowgatchy from Monghyr. It is reported that this regiment is to be dismounted, and the horses sent to Madras for the European cavalry lately arrived there.” But freight for the horses was not obtained. Bengal had been denuded of troops, and it was impossible to send the horses by land without a strong escort. It was not till June following that four hundred horses arrived from Bengal, by land, and the regiment was at last complete.
CHAPTER II
TROUBLES AT MADRAS
1783—1785
Sultan Tippoo Sahib of Mysore—Operations in Southern India—Death of Sir Eyre Coote—Attack on Cuddalore—Peace with France—Tippoo makes Peace—Strained relations between civil and military in India—The E. I. Company’s military establishment—The King’s troops in India—Misconduct of Madras Government—Quarrel between Council and General Stuart—Complaints of Council against Burgoyne—Arrest of Stuart—Council appoint Lang to supersede Burgoyne—Burgoyne refuses to give over command of the King’s troops—Strange delusions of the Council—Imminent Conflict between King’s and Company’s troops—Unworkable arrangement—Fresh quarrel—Burgoyne arrested—Mutiny of native cavalry—Court Martial on Burgoyne—His acquittal—His death—End of the quarrel—Burgoyne justified.
In little more than a month after the Regiment landed, the death of Hyder Ali occurred. It brought no relief to British interests. His son and successor, Tippoo, was an experienced soldier, though inferior to Hyder in ability. He was noted for his religious fanaticism and a violent temper, joined to a most barbarous cruelty of disposition. To this was added a spirit of implacable hostility to the English, the only European power in the country that appeared formidable to him. Possessed of a full treasury and a powerful army, he at once took the field with a force that contained 900 European troops, 250 Topasses,[9] and 2000 French sepoys, besides many thousands of his own Mysore troops. To oppose him, the Madras Government could dispose only of some 2950 European, and 11,500 native troops. With this force, Major General Stuart took the field in January, and made his way by slow marches to Vellore. Meanwhile, Tippoo was forced to withdraw to the westward to defend Mysore from an attack on that side. On the arrival at Bombay of reinforcements in Sir Richard Bickerton’s convoy, about 500 of the Company’s recruits, destined for Madras, were detained, and, on the arrival of the King’s troops at Madras, about 400 of them were at once sent back to Bombay. Out of this material a force had been organized, under Major General Matthews, to advance against Mysore from the west coast. After the capture of several places, the force was hemmed in at Bednore, and obliged to surrender to Tippoo, on 30th April 1783. A great loss was experienced at this time in the death of Sir Eyre Coote at Madras, on 27th April, three days after his return to resume command of the operations. After this nothing was done till June, when an ineffective attack was made on Cuddalore by Major General Stuart. The French were on the point of striking a counter blow which would probably have proved successful, when the announcement of peace in Europe changed the complexion of affairs. The French force with Tippoo was withdrawn, but otherwise the war continued. At this point the Mahrattas intervened. Tippoo’s character and his great power rendered him a menace to the other native Princes, and it was no part of the Mahratta policy that he should be allowed to crush the English. They therefore called on him to desist from hostilities. On his refusing to comply, they signed a treaty of alliance against him with the English. In the meantime, a successful expedition under Colonel Fullarton, strengthened by the troops set free by the peace with France, had penetrated into Mysore, from the south, and threatened Seringapatam. Under these circumstances, Lord Macartney and the Madras Council induced Tippoo to sign a treaty of peace,