Memoir of the Services of the Bengal Artillery: From the Formation of the Corps to the Present Time, with Some Account of Its Internal OrganizationBuckle, E. (Edmond)
History
Memoir of the Services of the Bengal Artillery: From the Formation of the Corps to the Present Time, with Some Account of Its Internal Organization
Buckle, E. (Edmond)
India -- History -- British occupation, 1765-1947; India -- History, Military; India. Army. Bengal Artillery
With astonishing labour and exertion, Major Montague, on the night of
the 2nd October, got two 24–pounders into the battery by means of ropes
fastened round posts driven into the ground, and trees, and all the
resources which an artillery officer must bring into play in such
circumstances; and on the 4th, this and a mortar battery from the pettah
opened, but the height was too great, for the mortars, and the guns were
unable to make any impression on the solid blocks of stone of which the
walls were formed; regular approaches were resolved on, and an 8–gun
battery (18–pounders) got ready up the hill, into which, on the 11th
October, the guns were drawn by two elephants each, aided by four
drag-ropes and crowds of men. On the 12th this battery opened with
excellent effect, and soon silenced all the guns in its direction,
except one on the south-east angle, which did much mischief; a traverse
was raised against this, and an advanced battery for two 6–pounders;
into this, with infinite labour, a 12–pounder was also conveyed, and the
angle gave way to a few well-directed shots by Major Montague, and the
troublesome gun came tumbling down the rock. The ammunition running
short, the fire was slack until the 16th, when a fresh supply arrived
from Bangalore.
The breach being now practicable, on the 18th the army moved up, and on
that evening the assault took place. An artillery officer, with a party
of men and a small mortar, to be used as a petard for blowing open the
gate of the inner wall, accompanied the storming party. The resistance,
though great at first, was not continued, and the place was won without
a heavy loss.
Lieutenant T. Hill, of the artillery, was wounded, during the siege, in
the thigh by the bursting of a shell, and Lieutenant Cranch slightly in
the shoulder.
Lieutenant-Colonel Stewart’s division now proceeded against Savendroog,
a hill fortress on a rocky mountain, half a mile high, and eight or ten
miles in circumference; on the 10th December, the division was within
three miles of it, the Commander-in-Chief covering the siege with the
main army; the hill was surrounded by a deep belt of jungle, composed of
bamboos and trees, interspersed with large masses of rock; a narrow path
was the only road, and this was rendered difficult from barriers. A road
for the guns was with great labour formed through this forest, and they
were transported with much difficulty through; the enemy offered little
or no interruption, confident in the strength of their post and the
fearful ally, malaria, which haunted the jungle, and, which Tippoo
affirmed, would destroy one-half of the army, while he would slaughter
the other. On the 17th December, two batteries opened, one of three
18–pounders, at 800 yards, at an elevation of 23°, and the other of
three 12–pounders and two 18–pounders, at 700 yards; the artillery was
under Major Montague, but we are unable to ascertain what company.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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