Page:A history of the military transactions of the British nation in Indostan, Volume 1.djvu/178

170 serviceable pieces in the city: with one of these, three field pieces, two cohorns, and 150 Europeans, he marched away, accompanied by 600 of the Nabob's cavalry, commanded by another of his brothers Abdul-wahab Khan; and on the day that they arrived in sight of Madura, they were joined by the army returning from Tinivelly. There were several large breaches in the outward wall; the gunfired through one of them on the inward wall, and in two days demolished a part of it, although not sufficient to make the breach accessible without the help of fascines. Difficult as it was, it was necessary either to storm it immediately, or to relinquish the siege, for all the shot of the great gun were expended. The Sepoys, encouraged by a distribution of some money, and a promise of much more if the place should be taken, went to the attack with as much spirit as the Europeans. The first wall was passed without resistance, and at the foot of the breach in the second appeared three champions, one of them a very bulky man in compleat armour, who fought manfully with their swords, and wounded several of the forlorn hope, but were at last with difficulty killed. Whilst the troops were mounting the breach, they were severely annoyed by arrows, stones, and the fire of matchlocks; notwithstanding which they gamed the parapet, where the enemy had on each side of the entrance raised a mound of earth, on which they had laid horizontally some palm trees separated from each other, and through these intervals they thrust their pikes. At the bottom of the rampart within the wall, they had made a strong retrenchment, with a ditch; and three or four thousand men appeared ready to defend this work with all kinds of arms. The troops, wounded by the pikes as fast as they mounted, were not able to keep possession of the parapet, and after fighting until ninety men were disabled, relinquished the attack. Four Europeans were killed: the Sepoys suffered more, and four of their captains were desperately wounded. The next day captain Cope prepared to return to Tritchinopoly, and blew the cannon to pieces, for want of means to carry it away. The troops of Mahomed-ally, encouraged by this repulse, no longer concealed their disaffestien and 500 horse, with 1000 Peons, went over to Allum Khan before the English broke up their camp, and two or three days after near 2000 more horsemen