Arthur turned back to his regiment.‘The 33rd will advance at the double!’

The red line rippled forward, up the hill, a short distance from the struggle engulfing Baird’s brigade. As they advanced Arthur kept glancing to the side, gauging the distance between his men and the desperate melee away to his right. When the 33rd had advanced a quarter of a mile beyond Baird’s formation Arthur halted them and, leaving the light company to protect his flank, he wheeled the rest of the regiment to the right, in a line facing the enemy column hurriedly marching down the slope towards Baird’s brigade.With bayonets fixed there was risk of injury when loading and Arthur knew it was best that it was done before they closed on the enemy.

‘Reload!’

The men grounded their muskets and pulled out fresh cartridges, biting off the end with the ball and holding it in their teeth as they primed the pan and dropped the charge into the muzzle. Then they spat the balls in and rammed the lot home before taking the weapons back in both hands ready to advance again. As soon as the reloading was complete Arthur gave the order to advance, and the regiment moved along the slope towards the column of Tipoo’s infantry, already drawing near to Baird’s men who were still in close formation as they fought off the enemy cavalry. Some of Tipoo’s men closest to the 33rd were shouting and gesticulating towards the new threat but their officers drove them on, knowing that their one chance of achieving some measure of success in the battle lay in charging directly into the ranks of the redcoats.

Arthur hurried his men on at the double, their kit thudding up and down as they trotted forward. He did not halt them until they were no more than seventy yards from the flank of the enemy column and then the familiar sequence of orders rattled out again.

‘Make ready! Present! Fire!’

The volley burst out in a storm of smoke and shot and all along the side of the enemy column men buckled and fell to the ground. The blow stopped their advance dead in its tracks, and at the same time unnerved the enemy cavalry who turned away from Baird’s men at the sound of massed musket fire. At once the redcoats, who had been beleaguered a moment before, let out a shout and surged forwards.

Arthur grabbed the chance at once. ‘33rd! Charge!’

Theatened from two directions the enemy instinctively recoiled, then broke and ran, streaming back up the hill at an angle from the two British formations. The enemy cavalry were heedless of their infantry and ran scores of them down in their bid to escape. Not wishing to repeat the mistake of the 74th, Arthur halted his men, and wheeled them back to the ridge to face any further attacks over the hill. But the battle was over. From his vantage point near the crest Arthur saw that the slopes of the nearby hills were also cleared of the enemy and red-coated battalions were moving forward to secure the ridge above Malavalley, stepping over the bodies of hundreds of Tipoo’s warriors as the daylight began to fade.

Although the enemy had been beaten there was no question of continuing the pursuit into the night. Tipoo still had a strong force of horsemen in the field and General Harris knew it would be folly to attempt a pursuit which would scatter his cavalry in the face of such a danger.As the army and camp followers settled around the large village for the night in a vast square of tents and glittering fires, Arthur, accompanied by Fitzroy, rode over to General Harris’s headquarters to make his report. The 33rd had only lost two men, victims of lucky shots fired from the enemy column they had shattered with their first, close range volley.

‘Did your boys get a chance to take ’em on with the bayonet?’ Harris asked.

‘No, sir.’ Fitzroy smiled. ‘The enemy didn’t quite stand up to that.’

‘Hah!’ Harris grinned with derision. ‘So much for the tiger warriors of Mysore.After today, I doubt that we’ll see much more of them before we reach Seringapatam.’

‘I hope that’s the case, sir,’ Arthur replied.

‘Of course it is. They’ll not dare to chance their arm against massed volleys again, mark my words.’

He clapped Arthur on the shoulder and turned as Major General Baird entered the tent to make his report. He had lost twenty-nine men from his brigade, but Harris was content with the estimated tally of enemy dead accounted for by Baird’s men and did not censure the reckless advance of the King’s 74th. As Harris moved on to the next officer Baird approached Arthur.

‘Good evening, sir.’ Arthur saluted.

‘Wellesley,’ Baird acknowledged in an even tone. He was not smiling and his brow was faintly furrowed as he continued, with evident reluctance, ‘I suppose I should thank you for intervening earlier. The timing of the flank attack was well judged.’

‘Thank you, sir.’

Baird stared at him for a moment, then nodded. ‘Yes, well, I just wanted to express my gratitude, Wellesley. That’s all. Good evening to you. And you, Fitzroy.’

He turned and walked away, back to the cluster of officers from his brigade.

‘Cheerful soul,’ Fitzroy muttered. ‘And so gracious in his appreciation of being rescued.’

‘Baird’s a tough one,’ Arthur replied. ‘It wasn’t easy for him to offer his thanks. He’ll have his chance to prove his worth once we reach Seringapatam.’

‘What makes you think that?’ Fitzroy smiled. ‘After today’s thrashing, I doubt Tipoo and his men will stand their ground a moment after we start firing at them.’

‘Don’t be too sure,’ Arthur replied. ‘Today was just a delaying action. Once we reach Seringapatam Tipoo and his men will defend their city to the death.Then I fear we’ll discover just how dangerous the warriors of Mysore can be.’

Chapter 48

Seringapatam, April 1799

The army came in sight of Tipoo’s capital on the afternoon of 3 April. Arthur climbed on to the roof of one of Tipoo’s hunting lodges, to the south-east of the city, and carefully examined the defences through his telescope. Seringapatam occupied an island in the Cauvery river, the main course of which passed to the north of the city, while a narrow channel flowed round the south, creating an island a little less than three miles long and just over a mile wide. The city had been built on the western end of the island and was surrounded by thick granite walls, outside which lay a large fortified camp where Tipoo’s army was massed, ready for the coming siege. Within the walls of the city the two minarets of the mosque gleamed in the distance, like ivory against the rich emerald green of the surrounding landscape.

Arthur turned at the sound of footsteps climbing the stairs behind him, and saw Fitzroy emerging on to the roof.

‘Ah, there you are, sir.’

‘Come and have a look, Fitzroy.’ Arthur indicated the distant city and passed his telescope to his aide. ‘It’s an impressive sight.’

There was a moment’s pause as Fitzroy squinted down the telescope and slowly panned it along the perimeter of Tipoo’s defences. ‘Good God,’ he muttered. ‘There must be over fifty . . . sixty guns along this side of the city.’

‘I counted over ninety. But you’ll note that the construction of the walls follows the usual eastern style, and will not permit effective flanking fire on any attackers. Clearly Tipoo’s French advisers haven’t had time to improve the city’s defences. That, or Tipoo is arrogant enough to believe that he knows better.’

‘So, sir, do you know how the general intends to crack this nut?’

‘It’s straightforward enough. The island is too big to besiege; our forces would be spread far too thinly to stop Tipoo’s men getting in or out of the city. Harris has decided to march round the city and set up camp to the west. From there we can batter the walls with siege guns and launch an assault across the south Cauvery channel. Our scouts reckon that the water is shallow enough at this time of year to wade across, crocodiles permitting.’