336 BATTLE OF KIRKEE. [CHAP. stream of soldiers issued from every avenue of the city. Mr. Elphinstone lost no time in joining the camp, but he had no sooner quitted the Residency than the Mahrattas rushed in and burnt it to the ground, together with all his valuable papers. Considering the great disparity of force, he believed it would be most judicious boldly to take the offensive, and he advised Colonel Burr, the commander, to assail the Mahrattas instead of awaiting their attack. The superstitious minds of the Peshwa's soldiers had been depressed by the accidental fracture of the staff of the national standard as they were leaving the city; but their confidence was destroyed by the fearless advance of the British troops, who they had been assured would take to flight on the first appearance of the Mahratta army. The Peshwa proceeded to the neighbouring hill Parbutee, to observe the conflict which he had not the courage to engage in, while Gokla, in the true spirit of a soldier, rode about from rank to rank animating the troops. He opened the engagement from a battery of nine guns and enveloped the British force with his cavalry. The infantry was left in the rear with the exception of one battalion, raised and commanded by a Portuguese officer, de Pinto, which boldly advanced against a regiment of sepoys. It was repulsed, but pursued with such ardour, that a gap was created between it and the rest of the British line. Gokla seized the opportunity, and launched a select body of 6,000 cavalry against the regiment while in a state of confusion. The veteran Colonel Burr, though labouring under a violent and incurable disease, took his post by the colours of the corps, which he himself had formed and led for many years, and aided by the nature of the ground succeeded in breaking the force of the charge. The Mahrattas were disconcerted, and began to retire, and on being charged by the British troops completely deserted the field, which was won with ease, with the loss of only eightysix killed and wounded. General Smith, on hearing of these transactions, hastened back to Poona, which he reached on XXVIII.] AFFAIRS OF NAGPORE. 337 the 13th of the month. The Peshwa had received a large accession of strength from the southern jageerdars who brought up their troops with alacrity, but he declined another engagement and, leaving his camp standing, fled southward on the 17th, when the city of Poona surrendered to General Smith; and thus ingloriously fell the power of the Peshwa, one hundred years after it had been established through the concessions obtained from the Emperor of Delhi in 1717 by his great grandfather, Ballajee Vishwunath. Events at Nag Appa Sahib, the regent of Nagpore, continued pore, 1816-1817. 7.to maintain the most friendly relations with the Resident for several months after the conclusion of the subsidiary treaty in June, 1816. But on the 1st February, 1817, the imbecile raja Persajee was found dead in his bed, and subsequent inquiries established the fact that he had been strangled by order of Appa Sahib, who immediately mounted the throne and assumed the title of Mahdajee Bhonslay. From that time there was a marked change in his conduct. Having attained the supreme power in the state, he became anxious to be relieved from that state of dependence in which the alliance had placed him, and he entered cordially into the views of the Peshwa to whom he gave the strongest assurances of support. Early in September, an agent of the Pindaree Cheetoo was presented at his durbar, and received a dress of honour. An active correspondence was also carried on with Poona, and troops were enlisted in large numbers. The Resident demanded an explanation of these strange proceedings, but the raja continued to profess an inviolable attachment to the Company, and, on hearing of the attack made on Mr. Elphinstone by Bajee Rao on the 5th November, enveighed against such perfidy in very strong terms; while, at the same time, he was collecting his resources for a treacherous assault on Mr. Jenkins. All his preparations appeared to him to be complete, and on the evening of the 24th November, he sent to inform the Resident that an agent had arrived from the Peshwa to invest him with a dress of honour, 338 THE RAJA ATTACKS THE RESIDENCY. [CHAP and with the ancient title of senaputtee, or commander inchief of the Mahratta empire, and that he intended to proceed to his camp the next day to assume these honours. Mr. Jenkins was impudently invited to be present on the occasion, but he remonstrated on the danger of these proceedings, and cautioned the raja against identifying himself with a prince who was then in arms against the Company. Appa Sahib, however, persisted in going to the camp, and assumed these decorations with every demonstration of military pomp. Battle of 1817. This ceremony was the signal for an attack on Seetabuldee, the Residency. It lay to the west of the city from which it was separated by a small ridge running north and south, with two hills at the extremity called the Seetabuldee hills, a name which has become as celebrated in the annals of British India, as ever Thermopylæ was in the annals of Greece. The raja's force amounted to about 18,000 men, of whom 4,000 were Arabs, the bravest soldiers in the Deccan, and at this time the sinews of the Mahratta armies; he had likewise thirty-six guns. The force at the Residency consisted of two battalions of Madras infantry, considerably weakened by disease; two companies of the Resident's escort, three troops of Bengal cavalry and a detachment of Madras artillery, with four six-pounders. Towards the evening the Nagpore guns were brought to bear upon the British position, and a vigorous assault was made on the lower hill, which, though slackened during the night, was impetuously renewed in the morning, but repelled with great gallantry. At length a tumbril exploded, and in the confusion of the moment, the Arabs charged directly up the hill and captured it, and immediately turned the gun they found there, together with two of their own, on the larger hill. Emboldened by this success, the enemy began to close in upon the Residency in every direction, and to prepare for a general assault. The Arabs likewise rushed into the huts of the sepoys who became dispirited by the shrieks of their women and children; the ammunition and supplies were XXVIII.] BATTLE OF SEETABULDEE. 339 "At running short; one-fourth the little force, including fourteen officers, was either killed or wounded; the latter were tended throughout the engagement by the ladies. It was a most appalling crisis, and there was every reason to conclude that the impending assault would result in the entire annihilation of the force, when the fortunes of the day were at once changed by the gallantry of Captain Fitzgerald, who commanded the Bengal cavalry. He had repeatedly entreated permission to charge the enemy, but had been refused. Seeing the destruction of the whole force inevitable, he made a last attempt, and "Tell with increased importunity, to be allowed to advance. him," replied Colonel Scott, "to charge at his peril." my peril be it,” replied Fitzgerald, and rushed upon the main body of the enemy's horse with irresistible fury, cut up the infantry, and captured two guns. This noble exploit was witnessed from the hill with ecstacy, and a spirit of the highest enthusiasm was kindled in the breasts of the troops. At this juncture one of the enemy's tumbrils exploded, the Arabs were seen to be disorganized, and officers and men plunged down the hill and chased the enemy before them like a flock of sheep. By noon, the conflict which had lasted eighteen hours terminated in the complete triumph of the British arms. It was, perhaps, the severest trial to which native troops had ever been exposed, and the result reflected the highest honour on their courage and constancy. But there can be little doubt that the great perils of the day might have been avoided if Colonel Scott had followed the example of Colonel Burr, and boldly charged the enemy at the outset. Lord Hastings bestowed the highest encomium on all who were engaged in this brilliant action, but it was not till the commencement of Queen Victoria's reign, twenty years later, that any mark of distinction was bestowed on the heroes of Seetabuldee. The order of the Bath was conferred on the survivors, Mr. Jenkins and Captain Lloyd. The 24th Madras Infantry occupied the place of the 1st Regiment which was struck off the roll for its share in the Vellore mutiny. The 340 DEPOSITION OF THE RAJA. CHAP. sepoys now prayed that in lieu of any other recognition of their services they might be permitted to resume the former number and facings of the regiment, a request which was most cordially acceded to. Deposition 1818. Reinforcements poured into Nagpore from all of Appa Sahib, quarters, and on the 15th December, Mr. Jenkins was in a position to dictate terms to the raja. He was required to dismiss his troops, to deliver up his guns, to repair to the Residency and to admit that by this unprovoked attack his kingdom was placed at the disposal of the British Government. He was, however, given to understand that on his acceptance of these terms, his throne would be restored to him with no other reservation of territory than was sufficient for the support of the subsidiary force. These conditions were accepted, but on the morning of the 16th December he sent to inform the Resident that his Arab troops would not allow him to quit the camp. General Doveton, therefore, moved up against it, when the raja, yielding to his fears, mounted his horse and accompanied by two of his ministers and a few attendants rode into the Residency. A portion of his guns, thirty-six in number, was likewise surrendered, but the remainder were not obtained till after a severe engagement which cost the British force a hundred and forty in killed and wounded. After the Nagpore army was dispersed, a body of about 5,000 Arabs and Hindostanees threw themselves into the fortified palace of the raja, and defended it with great resolution for a week. It became necessary to order up a battering train, but the Arabs, believing that they had done enough to save their honour, evacuated the place on the easy terms offered them. Lord Hastings had resolved to punish the wanton attack on the Residency by the deposition of Appa Sahib, but was unwilling to weaken the authority of the Resident by refusing his assent to the more lenient arrangement he had made, and the raja resumed his dignities on the 8th January, 1818. His incurable spirit of intrigue, however, hurried him to destruction. He incited the forest |