with which they blocked up the place, were covered by a fortified camp at a moderate distance. Such was the ftate of things at Tellichery, when, in the very beginning of the year, Major Abingdon having arrived there from Bombay, with a confiderable reinforcement of troops, he immediately concerted measures for relieving the town from the diftreffes which it endured through its prefent ftraitened fituation, by a vigorous attempt to diflodge the enemy and open the communications with the country. Having originally encamped with his own troops without the town, he was the better enabled to discover the fituation of the enemy, and could the more immediately com.mence his operations; while his lying quiet for fome days together with a vain opinion of their own ftrength, concurred in ren dering them totally unapprehenfive of his defign. Having drawn fuch part of the garrifon as could be spared, without notice, into his camp, he concerted his measures fo well, that he had furprized, attacked, and carried their feveral forts, before day, on the morning of the sth of January 1782; and purfued his fuccefs with fuch celerity and vigour, that not giving them a moment to recover from their confufion, he ftormed the enemy's fortified camp as foon as it was light, and completely routed and difperfed their main force. Saddos Cawn, who commanded for Hyder, with his family, and a party of his best or moft attached troops, retired into an exceedingly trong fortified houfe, and of a moft fingular conftruction; it be ་ ing fcooped into the fide of a hill, and the walls formed of the living rock. Here they made an obftinate defence; but their faftneffes were at length forced with confiderable flaughter and an inner recefs, which as of such strength and contrivance as to be bomb proof, was not fufficient to fave Sadãos Cawn (who was forely wounded) and his family, from being made prifoners. This man was reprefe ted in the European gazettes as being brother-in-law to Hyder Ally, an error founded on a fifter of his being in that prince's feraglio; a fort of connexion which is not at all confidered as conftituting any fuch degree of affinity. Several hundreds of the enemy were killed, and fourteen or fif teen hundred taken prifoners, in this brifk action; which befides afforded a very confiderable fpoil, confifting in a numerous artillery, with a large quantity of military ftores, and a number of elephants, which were found in the several forts and redoubts. By this fuccefs, the communications with the country were not only opened, but the coaft for feveral miles on either hand of Tellicherry, was entirely cleared of the enemy. Few things could have been more vexatious to Hyder than this flroke. For his poffeffions on the Malabar coaft being partly acquired by conqueft and partly by fraud, the Nairs, who are the native princes and nobility, and who had fuffered moft feverely in the ineffectual ftruggle for the prefervation of their ancient rights and liberties, which had, from the earlieft times, till then, been unviolated, were ftill exceedingly difaffected [D] 3 to to his government. It was be fides a matter of the most serious alarm to him, that the English fhould at all become formidable in that quarter, from its vicinity to the rich king loms of Canara and Myfore, which were the great fources of his wealth and power. CHA P. III. Colonel Brathwaite's detachment fuddenly furrounded by Tippo Saib, with a confiderable army, on the banks of the Coleroon. Difperate refiftance. Cruel flaughter trained by the humanity of M. Lally. Southern provinces laid entirely open to the enemy by this lofs. Embarraffing fiuation of Sir Eyre Coote. French forces, under the conduct of M. Duchemin, land at Pondicherry, and are joined by a body of Hyder's troops; the combined enemy befiege Cuddalore and Permacoil, both of which they take; and meditate, in concert with the grand army, an attack upon the im portant fortress of Vandiwash. Sir Eyre Co, in advancing to the proteciim of Vandewah, hopes thereby to bring on a battle with Hyder; but finding the latter relinquished his object to evade that dfin, he pujkes on two days march to attack hm on his own ground. Hyder abandons his camp, and retires to a jecure pofition on the Rea Hills. ritifh general, in order to draw the enemy from his long poft, and bring on an action, advances towards the fortress of Arne, where his magazines are depofited. Manœuvre fucceeds: Hyder immediately defcends from the Red Hills, and marcies to the relief of Arnee. Battle of the 2d of June. Enemy routed and pursued till night The want of cavalry on one fide, and abundance of it on the other, prevent the grand effects of victory in this war. Purfuit continued for two days. Enemy abandon the great road, and cross the country to rnee. British grand guard cut off. Fatigue, fickness, and want of provifions, oblige the army to fall back towards the fources of its fupply. Sir Eyre oote's ill health obliges him to quit the army, and leave the command to General Stuart. Hyder in a fimilar ftate of ill health. Defined never to face each other again in the field. Both, probably, victims to the contention. Failure of Hyder's great de figns, affects his conftitution. French Squadron returns from the fland of Ceylon to the craft of Coromandel, and is followed by the English. M. de suffrein takes on board great reinforcements of troops and artillerymen at Cuddalore, with a view of entirely crushing the British naval power in those jeas. App. ars before Megapatum, to challenge Sir Edward Hughes. Action of the 6 h of July. French fleet faved by a fudden shift of wind. Severe frikes to the Sultan, but afterwards efcapes Capt. Maclellan, of the admiral's ship kill d. Great Lfs of the enemy. While the Squadron is refitting at Madras, M. de Suffrein joins the Sieur d'Aymar, on the coast of Ceylon, who is arrived there with two ships of the line, and the fecond divifion of the Marquis de Buffy's troops from the Mauritius. Enemy befige and take Trincomale, while the British jquad on is detained by adverfe winds from its refcue. Sir E. Hughes arrives, early in the morning clofe in with that place. Enemy, relying on ther Superior fuperior force, come out to battle. Defperate and well fought action on the 3d of September. Enemy lofe one of their best ships in getting in to Irincomale. Lofs of men small, with refpe&t to number; but the three brave captains, Wood, Watts and Lumley, with other diftinguished officers, are unfortunately flain. Great lofs of the enemy. Admirable behaviour of the British commanders, through the whole courfe of this Jevere naval warfare. THE HE blow which Hyder received on the Malabar coaft, was foon returned with heavy intereft on the banks of the Coleroon. Indeed retaliation was generally to be apprehended as the confequence of fuccefs, in the conficts with that dangerous enemy. Colonel Braithwaite had for fome confiderable time commanded a detached body of forces, which was called the fouthern army, and appears to have been deftined to the protection of Tanjour and the adjoining provinces. It likewife apthat Sir Eyre Coote had early pears in the year been training every nerve to advance the army from Madras to the fouthward, in order to be at hand to reprefs the defigns of Hyder Ally and the French on the fide of Pondicherry; and that he was fo entirely deftitute of the means neceffary to that purpose, that it was a work of time, and a matter of the greateft difficulty, to make a movement even to fo fmall a distance as Chingleput. It is not a little fortunate to the commanders of armies in general, that fuch embarraffing circumftances with refpe&t to the means of warfare are not frequent. We find by that general's letter to the fecretary of state upon the fubject, that he was at the fame time involved in another difficulty, the nature of which we can by no means clearly compre hend. Sir Eyre Coote reprefents in that letter, that he was anxioufly expecting the refult of an application which he had made to the governor general and council of Bengal, for reftoring his authority over the fouthern troops, that he might be enabled to direc them to fuch a co-operation, as would tend to facilitate his own movements, and to distract the defigns of their enemies. What new powers the commander in chief of all the company's forces could have wanted upon this occafion or how the fouthern command should have got beyond his authority, we are incapable of explaining. Colonel Braithwaite lay with his detachment on the banks of the Coleroon, which forms the nor thern boundary of the Tanjour kingdom. Though is force was not great with respect to number, his troops were excellent, confifting of ab ut 2,000 tried infantry, and a fmall body of 250 cavalry, with 13 field pieces. His fituation in a flat and open country, where no fecurity, through the want of advantageous ois, could be obtained by retreat, and where fuc cour was impoffible, evidently would have expofed him to great danger, if a fuperior enemy, abounding in cavalry, had been within reach to profit of it; but this did not appear to be the cafe, for yder's army was diftant, and [D] 4 the the feveral deep and great rivers in the way, feemed to forbid the fudden and unexpected approach of any fuch confiderable body of the enemy, as might be fufficient to afford real caufe for alarm. These circumftances of the colonel's fituation did not escape the vigilant attention of Tippoo Saib; whofe active mind, eagerly feeking for adventure, was fill the more ftimulated to this fort of defultory enterprize, from the fuccefs which had attended his attack upon Colonel Baillie. It is to be obferved, that rivers, and even fmall or moderate arms of the fea, are a very ineffective barrier against Hyder's forces: who has for many years conftituted the paffing of fuch great and dangerous waters, under the moft untoward circumfiances and alarming appearances, among the common military exercifes both of his cavalry and infantry. Tippoo Saib was accompanied in this expedition by Monf. Lally, with about 400 French; his native forces being eftimated at 20,000, of whom more than half were cavalry. With this army, and 20 pieces of cannon, he, by feveral forced marches, gained, with great expedition, the banks of the Coleroon; and paffing that river with no lefs celerity than he had hitherto furmounted all other obftacles in his way, fuddenly furrounded Brathwaite's corps, which could not be fuppofed in any degree of preparation for fo unexpected an attack. February, 1782, and the affair was not decided until the 18th. It has been afferted in a letter, written by an officer who was in the action, that during 26 hours of those three days, an unremitting fire of cannon and small arms had been fupported on both fides. The fuddennefs of the furprize, nor the imminence of the danger, produced none of their utual effects, whether with respect to the collection and compofure, or to the undaunted courage, which were difplayed and fupported through the whole affair, by the British commander and his officers; the former of whom, though feverely wounded and bleeding faft, could not be prevailed upon to withdraw from the action even for a moment. As he was attacked on all fides, and obliged to prefent a front to every attack, he threw his detachment into a hollow fquare, with his 13 field pieces interfperfed in its faces, and his small body of cavalry drawn up in the centre. Tippoo, Saib's defign, (and in which he thought he could not fail of fucceeding) was by a violent cannonade on all fides to break or diforder the fquare in fome of its faces, and then rufhing on impetuously with his cavalry, inftantly to complete the de-. ftruction of the whole. But the noife and violence of his cannonade, with the diftant fire of his mufquetry, were totally incapable of making the fmalleft impreffion on the order of the British fepoys, This action, in many respects, who, with a firmnefs that cannot refembled that in which Colonel be too much admired, were proof Baillie was engaged, but was of to a fire, and to fuch an afpect of much longer continuance. The inevitable deftruction, as might attack commenced on the 16th of have put the conftancy and difci pline of the beft Furopean troops to the teft. Finding this failure in the first part of his defign, and not placing the lofs of men in any competition with the attainment of his object, he thought to fupply the defect by the number and courage of his cavalry, who he expected could not fail of break ing in at fome point or other of the attack, and of then foon-cutting or trampling down the whole party. He accordingly made reiterated attempts to lead on his cavalry to the charge; but though they advanced with the greatest impetuofity and fury, they were conftantly received with fuch inceffant thowers of grape and mufquet hot, and fuch havock made amongst them in the approach, that they were as conflantly broken on the way, and obliged to fly in the utmost diforder; whift at the very inftant of their breaking, the party of cavalry fallied full gallop from the centre of the fquare, and purfuing them furioufly with heavy and unrefifted execution to a proper diftance, again returned to their former ftation. Such was the nature of the repeated attacks which they fuftained, and fuch the hard and defperate fervice, which this handful of brave men underwent through fo long a courfe of time. But in this courfe their numbers were continually thinned, while the brave furvivors, worn down with wounds and fatigue, were ftill more fubdued by the evident fruitleffnefs of their exertions. At length, on the third day, Monf. Lally feeing the total failure of the cavalry, and that fo far from fulfilling Tippoo Saib's fanguine hopes of riding over at once and trampling upon the British infantry, no poffible means could bring them to the refolution of ever making one charge up to the lines, he propofed a new difpofition and more effectual mode of attack. M. Lally marched himself at the head of his 400 Europeans, with fixed bayonets, to the attack of that fide of the fquare, which was the most expofed or feemed the weakeft; he being accompanied and fupported by feveral battalions of the enemy's best infantry, and flanked by cavalry. Whilft he was advancing to this attack, the whole fire of their artillery was poured in upon the other three faces, which were at the fame time menaced and harraffed by great bodies of cavalry, who were ready to ruth in upon them, at the inftant that they ventured upon any change in their pofition; fo that the attacked front could not receive the fmalleft fupport whatever from the others. The poor wearied fepoys in that front, were little able to withftand the vigorous bayonet attack of fuch a body of Europeans coming fresh into action, confident, as they were, of fuccefs, and fupported by fuch a weight of native troops. They were foon broken, and the cavalry inftantly rushing in, a dreadful carnage enfued. This moment of horror and deftruction afforded an opportunity to M. Lally of difplaying the nobleft humanity, and of transmitting his name with favour and honour to pofterity. He not only iffued immediate orders for putting a top to the carnage, which were readily obeyed by the in fantry, |