Page:A history of the military transactions of the British nation in Indostan.djvu/422

398 halting on the 19th. Captain Preston, zealous to recover the prisoners, marched in the night of the 19th, with the greatest part of thegarrison of Chinglapet, to intercept them. His party was only 80 Europeans, 400 Sepoys, and two field-pieces. They crossed the country, and halted at 10 o'clock next day six miles to the south of Sadrass. A channel of 20 miles in length extends from Cobelong to within three miles of Sadrass, and has at each extremity an opening to the sea, from which it receives its water, and at times enough to overflow the country a mile a-cross, in which state it was at present. Besides the road leading from Cobelong to Sadrass along the sea shore, there is another within the inundation, and Preston remaining where he had halted sent half his force over the water with lieutenant Airey, to wait for the enemy on the other road; two hours after appeared a body of 400 Sepoys, within some black horse, whom Preston kept at a distance and dispersed; and in the evening, Airey's party returned without any tidings of the escort, which had passed on to Sadrass before he crossed the water, on which Preston marched back to his garrison, where he arrived the next day. The commandant Mahomed Issoof, after having been detained three days at Outatore by the rains, arrived on the 29th of November at Thiagar, where he was joined by the killidar, Kistnarow, with 250 horse, and 1000 foot: and Mahomed Issoof himself had enlisted 100 horse on the road. Their forces marched on the first of December, and invested Elavanasore, which stands ten miles to the west of Thiagar. There were in the fort two companies of Sepoys belonging to the French, with a lieutenant, Dumesnil, and three other Europeans, a Serjeant, and two gunners, and two field-pieces: this garrison defended themselves until the close of the evening, when they surrendered. Fifty of the Sepoys took service with Mahomed Issoof; the rest were disarmed and permitted to go where they pleased, but the four Europeans were sent to Tritchinopoly: some stores and ammunition were found in the fort. The next day Kistnarow went away with his own troops to get plunder, and on the 7th burnt a village in sight of Fort St. David; but Mahomed Issoof did not move until the 5th, when he proceeded to Tricolore,