Part 18

The 3rd battalion, forming part of the army of occupation in France, marched from Gillecourt in January, 1816, and went into garrison at Valenciennes. It quitted this place in March, 1817, and proceeded to Calais, where it embarked for England, and landed at Dover on the 24th of the same month. It shortly afterwards marched to Canterbury barracks, where it was disbanded on the 24th of April, 1817.

[Sidenote: 1st and 2nd Batts.]

The regiment was thus reduced to its former establishment of TWO BATTALIONS; and the men of the 3rd battalion having been transferred to the 1st and 2nd battalions, His Royal Highness the Prince Regent was pleased to grant permission to the 1st and 2nd battalions to bear the words "BUSACO," "SALAMANCA," "VITTORIA," "ST. SEBASTIAN," "NIVE," "PENINSULA," and "WATERLOO," on their colours, in commemoration of the distinguished services of the 3rd battalion of the regiment, as before narrated.

[Sidenote: 2nd Batt.]

In the meantime the 2nd battalion had continued actively employed in the East Indies against the _Pindarees_, and these barbarous hordes being composed entirely of horsemen, the services of the corps were of an arduous and trying nature; traversing extensive districts by forced marches, passing rivers and thickets, and attempting to surprise these bands of plunderers, were duties calculated to exhaust the physical powers of Europeans when performed under an Indian sun.

While the ROYAL SCOTS were engaged in these services, several of the native princes prepared to wage war against the British. Their designs were partly discovered and disconcerted by the Marquis of Hastings. Hostilities, however, followed, and the battalion was called upon to engage in the contest. The eight battalion companies formed part of the second division under the command of Brigadier-General Doveton; and the flank companies were destined to form part of the 1st division of the army of the Deccan, under Lieut.-General Sir Thomas Hislop, Baronet.

The battalion was stationed at Jaulnah; from whence the flank companies marched on the 11th of October, 1817, under the command of Captain Hulme, with two regiments of native cavalry, and four guns, to join the head-quarters of the 1st division, and arrived at Hurda on the 22nd. The battalion companies quitted Jaulnah on the 15th of October, under the command of Brevet Lieut.-Colonel Fraser, (Lieut.-Colonels N. M'Leod,[130] and Neil M'Kellar having the command of brigades,) and arrived, with the remainder of the 2nd division, its train of elephants, camels, and horses, at Meiker, on the 23rd. From this place the ROYAL SCOTS were detached, with the battering train, down the Berar Ghats, with the design of taking part in the reduction of Asseerghur, an important fortress, belonging to a native sovereign named Scindia; but the order was suddenly countermanded, and the division was directed to proceed to _Nagpore_, the capital of the Mahratta territories, an attack having been made on the British force at that place. The division proceeded for this station without delay; and the ROYAL SCOTS, following by forced marches, rejoined the head-quarters on the 7th of November, at Oomrouttee. From this place Brigadier-General Doveton pushed forward with the ROYAL SCOTS, and part of his division, and having encountered excessive fatigue, by constant marching, arrived on the 12th in the vicinity of Nagpore, where he was joined by the remainder of the division on the following day. In the meantime the British troops at this place had taken post on two strong eminences near the residency, on which attacks had been made by the Rajah's forces, and one of the eminences had been carried by a great superiority of numbers; but the other, though attacked, had been maintained.

On the arrival of Brigadier-General Doveton's division, the Rajah was inclined to come to terms, and he at length agreed to surrender his guns and disperse his troops; but the treachery he had already evinced induced the Brigadier-General to dispose his troops in order of battle when he advanced to take possession of the guns. The troops were accordingly formed in the following order:--Two regiments of native cavalry and six horse artillery six-pounders on the height; on its left Lieut.-Colonel M'Leod's brigade, composed of a wing of the ROYAL SCOTS, four regiments of native infantry, and the flank companies of another native regiment; Lieut.-Colonel M'Kellar's brigade, consisting of a division of the ROYAL SCOTS, a regiment of native infantry, and a detachment of horse artillery with four guns; on its left was Lieut.-Colonel Scot's brigade, of a division of the ROYAL SCOTS, a regiment of native infantry, and a detachment of foot artillery with sappers and miners, and two guns; a reserve of native infantry supported the line, and the principal battery of the artillery was posted in the rear of Lieut.-Colonel M'Leod's brigade. On the left of the position was an enclosed garden; beyond it the Nagah Nuddee; a small river ran from thence past the enemy's right; and three parallel ravines, terminating in the bed of the river, crossed the space between the infantry and the enemy; but in front of the cavalry, and on their right, the country was open. The enemy's position was masked by irregularities of the ground and clusters of houses and huts, and a thick plantation of trees, with ravines, and a large reservoir. On this ground the Rajah had formed an army of 21,000 men, of which 14,000 were horse, with seventy-five guns. Such was the ground on which the battle of _Nagpore_ was fought. Beyond the river lay the city, from the walls of which the movements of both armies could be perceived.

The Rajah had agreed, after much procrastination, to surrender his guns at noon on the 16th of December; and the British force was put in motion to receive them. The first battery was taken possession of without opposition; but on the troops entering the plantation, the enemy treacherously opened a sharp fire of musketry on them. The action then commenced. The columns deployed. The brigades under Lieut.-Colonels M'Leod and M'Kellar carried the enemy's right battery with great gallantry, and afterwards drove the right wing from its ground. The other batteries were also carried, and the supporting troops routed, and the enemy was driven from all his positions, and pursued a distance of five miles. The enemy's camp equipage, 40 elephants, and 75 guns were captured; and the ROYAL SCOTS added to their former honours that of standing triumphant in the interior of India, over an immense superiority of numbers of the enemy. The battalion lost on this occasion 9 rank and file killed, and 26 wounded.

After this success the siege of the city of _Nagpore_ was commenced. The troops which defended this place, consisting of about 5000 Arabs and Hindoostanees, insisted upon extraordinary terms; and these not being granted, they resolved on a desperate defence. On the 23rd of December a breach was made at the Jumma Durwazza gate, and an assault on the place was resolved on. One company of the ROYAL SCOTS, under the command of Lieutenant Bell, with five of native infantry, and a proportion of sappers and miners, were allotted for this service; and two other companies of the ROYAL SCOTS, under the command of Captain H. C. Cowell, were destined to attack the city at another gate; and the remaining five companies were kept for the protection of the batteries.

At half-past eight o'clock on the morning of the 24th of December the signal was given, when the storming party, rushing from the trenches, gained the breach, but were instantly assailed by a heavy fire of matchlocks from the adjoining buildings; at the same time the British troops were unable to injure their numerous antagonists, either by the fire of musketry or coming to close quarters. The Arabs, thus sheltered behind walls, each marked with fatal aim, and with impunity, his destined victim; and their fire under these circumstances is destructive at distances beyond that where European musketry is considered effective. Lieutenant Bell, of the ROYAL SCOTS, a most promising officer, who had served with the 3rd battalion during a great part of the war in Spain, was killed while gallantly leading his men to the attack; and the breach being found untenable, the troops were ordered to withdraw. The other storming parties succeeded in gaining the desired points; yet their positions were also untenable, and they were ordered to retire.

On the following day the Arabs renewed their offer to surrender; and their terms being acceded to, they marched out of the city on the 1st of January, 1818, and were allowed to go where they pleased, with the exception of proceeding to Asseerghur. The loss of the ROYAL SCOTS in the attack on _Nagpore_ was 1 lieutenant (Bell) and 10 rank and file killed, with 2 serjeants and 49 rank and file wounded.

Brigadier-General Doveton, in his despatch to the Commander-in-Chief in India, stated--"During the operation in the field of the 2nd division of the army of the Deccan under my command, the conduct of the 2nd battalion of His Majesty's ROYAL SCOTS, under the immediate command of Lieut.-Colonel Fraser, has been invariably such as to entitle that valuable corps to my highest approbation and applause; and more

## particularly in the action with the enemy's army at this place on the

16th ultimo, their gallantry, steadiness, and good conduct were most exemplary."

Thus, whether Europe, Asia, Africa, or America be the scene of conflict, the conduct of the ROYAL SCOTS appears to have been uniformly the same; and the gallantry displayed by the 2nd battalion on this occasion was rewarded by the royal permission, dated the 29th of March, 1823, to bear the word "NAGPORE" on its colours.

In the meantime the two flank companies, commanded by Captain Hulme, had been engaged in several movements with the 1st division of the army of the Deccan, and passed the Nerbuddah in flat-bottomed boats on the 30th of November. On the 8th of December the division arrived at Peepleea, and after four marches encamped in the vicinity of Oojain, a short distance from _Maheidpoor_, where the army of Mulhar Rao Holkur, one of the coalesced Mahratta powers against the British interests in India, was assembled. After various fruitless negociations, the division advanced against the enemy on the morning of the 22nd of December; and as the troops were crossing the ford of the Seeprah river they were exposed to a powerful and concentrated cannonade. About half a mile beyond the river stood the army of Holkur; and after passing the stream Brigadier-General Sir John Malcolm advanced with two brigades of infantry to attack the enemy's left and a ruined village situated on an eminence near the centre. The companies of the ROYAL SCOTS formed part of this force; and in the action which followed they evinced their native valour in a signal way. The enemy's left was brought forward in anticipation of the attack, and a destructive fire of grape shot was opened on the British; yet, encouraged by the example of Sir John Malcolm and Lieut.-Colonel M'Gregor Murray,[131] the ROYAL SCOTS rushed forward in the face of this tremendous fire; the enemy's infantry were driven from their position, and the village and batteries were carried at the point of the bayonet; the enemy's artillerymen were resolute, and stood their ground until they were bayoneted. While the ROYAL SCOTS were victorious at their point of attack, the enemy's right was overpowered; his centre gave way on the appearance of a brigade ascending from the river; and his troops, occupying a position where his camp stood, also fled on the advance of a British force to attack them. Thus the army of Mulhar Rao Holkur was routed; and in a general order, dated the 23rd of December, the Commander-in-Chief of the army of the Deccan observed--"The undaunted heroism displayed by the flank companies of the ROYAL SCOTS in storming and carrying, at the point of the bayonet, the enemy's guns on the right of Lieut.-Colonel Scot's brigade, was worthy of the high name and reputation of that regiment. Lieutenant M'Leod fell gloriously in the charge, and the conduct of Captain Hulme, Captain M'Gregor, and of every officer and man belonging to it entitles them to his Excellency's most favourable report and warmest commendation."

The loss of the ROYAL SCOTS on this occasion was Lieutenant Donald M'Leod, 1 serjeant, and 7 rank and file, killed; Lieutenants John M'Gregor and Charles Campbell, 4 serjeants, 1 drummer, and 27 rank and file, wounded. In commemoration of the valour evinced by these two companies the battalion obtained the royal permission to bear the word "MAHEIDPOOR" on its colours.

[Sidenote: 1818]

[Sidenote: 2nd Batt.]

Arrangements having been made for the pursuit of Holkur, the troops advanced on the 28th of December, and on the 30th formed a junction with part of the Bombay army, under the command of Major-General Sir William Keir Grant, at Taul. Advancing from thence on the following day, the troops encamped in the beginning of January, 1818, at Mundesoor, and soon afterwards, Holkur's government having been brought to submission, the presence of the 1st division of the army of the Deccan being no longer necessary in this part of India, it marched southward. On the 22nd of January it crossed the Seeprah river, on the 24th it reached Oojain, where it halted until the 28th. On the 30th it was at Indoor; on the 13th of February it recrossed the Nerbuddah, and proceeding in the direction of the Taptee, encamped on the left bank of that river on the 27th, in the vicinity of _Talnere_, a town and fortress belonging to Holkur, formerly the capital of the sultans of the Adil Shahy dynasty, in the fifteenth century, which, it had been agreed, should be delivered up to the British government, but which, unexpectedly, opened a fire upon the advanced part of the division. A summons was sent to the Killedar, who commanded the garrison, warning him of the consequences of resistance; and, no answer being returned, a battery was brought to bear on the fort, which silenced the enemy's fire in a few hours, but not before several casualties had occurred from the well-directed fire of matchlocks from the walls. On a further examination of the fort, one of the outer gates was discovered to be in a ruinous state; and the flank companies of the ROYAL SCOTS and of the Madras European regiment, were placed under the orders of Major Gordon, of the ROYAL SCOTS, for the attack of the gate. The garrison offered to capitulate; and an unconditional surrender was demanded without delay; but, the evening being advanced, it was suspected the enemy would attempt to escape during the approaching darkness, and the storming party advanced up to the gate. A passage for single files between the walls and the frame of the outer gate was discovered, and no opposition being offered, the storming party and pioneers entered: they subsequently passed the second gate, and at the third were met by the Killedar and some natives. Lieut.-Colonel Conway, the Adjutant General to the army, with Lieut.-Colonel M'Gregor Murray, had entered with the storming party, and they passed through the third and fourth gates; but at the fifth and last gate they were stopped, though the wicket was opened. A hurried conversation about terms of surrender now took place; and Colonel Murray, concluding that there was an urgent necessity for establishing such a footing as would secure eventual success should the enemy hold out, entered by the wicket with Major Gordon and three grenadiers of the ROYAL SCOTS, but refrained from drawing his sword, to show he had no intention of breaking off the parley. Five persons only had passed the wicket when the enemy fell upon them, and in a moment laid them all dead, excepting Colonel Murray, who fell towards the wicket covered with wounds. The enemy attempted to close the wicket, but were prevented by a grenadier, private Sweeny, of the ROYAL SCOTS, who thrust his musket into the aperture: Lieut.-Colonel M'Intosh and Captain M'Craith forced the wicket open, and it was held in this state while the captain was with one hand dragging Colonel Murray through, and with the other warding off blows with his sword. A fire was then poured in through the wicket, which cleared the gateway sufficiently for the grenadiers of the ROYAL SCOTS, under Captain M'Gregor, who formed the head of the storming party, to enter, and the fort was carried by assault, but at the expense of the captain's life. The garrison was put to the sword, and the Killedar was hanged on the same evening. The ROYAL SCOTS had Major Gordon, Captain P. M'Gregor, and 3 private men killed; Lieutenant John M'Gregor (brother to the captain),[132] and 3 rank and file, wounded. The conduct of the ROYAL SCOTS on this occasion was spoken of, in general orders, in terms of commendation; and the intrepidity and courage of Major Gordon and Captain M'Gregor were especially noticed.

In the meantime, the 2nd division of the army of the Deccan, with which the eight battalion companies of the ROYAL SCOTS were serving, had been withdrawn from Nagpore, and proceeded (22nd January) towards Ellichpoor. In the early part of February, detachments from the division captured the two strong hill-forts of _Gawelghur_ and _Narnullah_. The division was afterwards encamped at Ootran; in March it proceeded to Copergaum, and on the 17th of that month encamped on the left bank of that noble river the Godavery, near Fooltaumba; at the same time the 1st division was encamped on the opposite bank of the river. Here the 2nd division resumed its former designation of the Hyderabad division. Two flank and three battalion companies of the ROYAL SCOTS were directed to proceed to Hyderabad; and the remaining five companies continued in the field with the force under Brigadier-General Doveton. These companies were commanded by Lieut.-Colonel Fraser, and on his appointment to the command of a brigade, by Captain Joseph Wetherall,[133] the next officer in seniority.

The division was engaged in operations against Peishwah Bajee Rao (one of the Mahratta confederacy), who, with an army of cavalry said to amount to 20,000 men, studiously avoided a conflict with the British field force, and sought to accomplish his object by sudden marches and surprises. Information having been received of an intended attack of this chief on the cantonments of Jaulnah, the Hyderabad division, with which were three companies of the ROYAL SCOTS, commanded by Captain Wetherall (the other two companies remaining at Fooltaumba), proceeded seventy-two miles in two forced marches, and before the remaining thirty miles were accomplished, the Peishwah had proceeded in another direction. After a short halt, the division continued the pursuit of the flying enemy, encountering many difficulties while traversing parts of the country which had never before witnessed the presence of a British army, and using the most indefatigable exertions, it frequently occurring that the troops occupied the ground which Bajee Rao had left on the preceding day. After a circuitous route, having performed forty-one marches in forty days, at the hottest period of the year, during which time the division had only two halts, the troops returned for supplies to Jaulnah, where they encamped on the 11th of May. In this difficult service the European soldiers had not evinced any want of physical power; they had performed their marches cheerfully, and their only complaint was not being able to overtake the flying enemy. After a halt of two days, the division again resumed the chase of its flying foe, and continued the pursuit until the Peishwah surrendered himself to the British government, when it returned to Jaulnah.

Meanwhile the two companies of the ROYAL SCOTS left at Fooltaumba, under the command of Lieutenant Bland, had marched with a body of troops, under Lieut.-Colonel M'Dowall, of the East India Company's service, into the Candeish country, and had captured the fort of _Unkye_, situated on the summit of the Candeish Ghats, also the forts of _Rajdeir_ and _Inderye_, in which service the two companies had a few private men wounded. They were next engaged in the reduction of the strong hill-fort of _Trimbuck_, situated near the source of the river Godavery, which surrendered on the 25th of April; their loss on this occasion was 1 serjeant, 1 drummer, and 8 private men, wounded. The conduct of the ROYAL SCOTS in this service was spoken of in terms of commendation in detachment orders. The capture of Trimbuck was followed by the surrender of seventeen other forts.

After this service the detachment proceeded to the strong fort of _Malleygaum_, situated on the river Moassum, and defended by a party of the Arabs, who surrendered to Brigadier-General Doveton at Nagpore. This place was defended by two lines of works, with very high walls, the inner one of superior masonry and surrounded by a ditch 25 feet deep and 16 feet wide. On the 18th of May a sortie of the garrison was repulsed; and on the 19th two batteries opened their fire. A breach having been effected, an attempt was made to carry the fort by storm: 2 officers and 50 rank and file of the ROYAL SCOTS, commanded by Lieutenant Bland, formed part of the principal storming party against the breach, and Lieutenant Orrock and 25 rank and file part of a column destined to make an attack on another point; but success was found impracticable, and the storming party was withdrawn. Another point of attack was afterwards selected, and new batteries raised. Two of the enemy's magazines having been blown up, the garrison surrendered, and the British flag was hoisted on the walls of _Malleygaum_, on the morning of the 13th of June. The ROYAL SCOTS lost in this siege 5 rank and file killed; Ensign Thomas, 1 serjeant, 1 drummer, and 11 rank and file, wounded.

[Sidenote: 1819]