Historical Record of the Seventy-Second Regiment, or the Duke of Albany's Own Highlanders: Containing an account of the formation of the regiment in 1778, and of its subsequent services to 1848Cannon, Richard
History
Historical Record of the Seventy-Second Regiment, or the Duke of Albany's Own Highlanders: Containing an account of the formation of the regiment in 1778, and of its subsequent services to 1848
Cannon, Richard
Great Britain. Army. Regiment of Foot, 72nd -- History; Great Britain. Army. Seaforth Highlanders -- History
On the morning of the 9th of December, the fifty-second and
SEVENTY-SECOND regiments, with the fourteenth and twenty-sixth
Bengal sepoys, were detached, under Lieut.-Colonel Stuart of the
SEVENTY-SECOND, against the fortress of _Savendroog_, situate on
the side of a mountain, environed by almost inaccessible rocks;[13]
the troops arrived before the place on the 10th, and during the
night the grenadiers of the fifty-second and SEVENTY-SECOND, with a
battalion company from each regiment, supported by the twenty-sixth
sepoys, climbed a steep hill; traversed sheets of rock; descended
into a valley by a path so rugged and steep that the soldiers let
themselves down in many places by the branches of trees growing
on the side of the rock; traversed the valley; ascended a rock
nearly three hundred feet high, crawling on their hands and feet,
and helping themselves up by tufts of grass, until they attained
the summit, where they established themselves on a spot which
overlooked the whole of the fortress, about three hundred yards
from the wall. The batteries were speedily constructed; the flank
companies of the seventy-first and seventy-sixth regiments arrived
to take part in the siege; and practicable breaches having been
effected, storming-parties paraded on the morning of the 21st of
December. The right attack was made by the light companies of the
seventy-first and SEVENTY-SECOND, supported by a battalion company
of the SEVENTY-SECOND; the left attack by the two flank companies
of the seventy-sixth and grenadier company of the fifty-second;
the centre attack under Major FRAZER of the SEVENTY-SECOND, by the
grenadiers and two battalion companies of the SEVENTY-SECOND, two
companies of the fifty-second, the grenadiers of the seventy-first,
and four companies of sepoys, supported by the sixth battalion of
sepoys; the whole under Lieut.-colonel Nisbitt, of the fifty-second
regiment. The storming-parties proceeded to their stations; the
band of the fifty-second took post near them, and suddenly striking
up the tune _Britons strike home_, the whole rushed forward with
the most heroic ardour. The Mysoreans made a feeble defence, and
in less than two hours the British were in possession of the fort,
with the trifling loss of five men wounded. The troops were thanked
in General Orders, for their very gallant conduct, in which it
was stated,--“LORD CORNWALLIS thinks himself fortunate, almost
beyond example, in having acquired by assault, a fortress of so
much strength and reputation, and of such inestimable value to the
public interest, as Savendroog, without having to regret the loss
of a single soldier.”
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