Page:A history of the military transactions of the British nation in Indostan.djvu/481

Book X. some dangerously; and four were taken prisoners: in all 33. Of rank and file in the battalions of European and of the men belonging to the artillery, 198 were killed, 52 died in the hospital, 20 deserted, 122 were taken prisoners, and 167 were wounded; in all 559; but many of the wounded recovered. Of the Lascars, who were natives assisting in the artillery, nine were killed, and 15 wounded. Of the Sepoys, including officers, 105 were killed 217 wounded, and 440 deserted. The loss in Europeans was more than reinstated by the troops brought in the ships. The governor Mr. Pigot, as soon as the enemy disappeared, relinquished the special authority which had been vested in himself, to the usual administration of the council, of which he was President; and received their thanks for the good effects of his resolution and activity during the siege: he had visited the works every day, encouraging the garrison by his presence, and rewarding those exposed to severer services with money. Provisions of all kinds in abundance, and of the best condition, had been laid up, and as well as all the military stores, were distributed from the different magazines, under the direction of the members of the council, assisted by the inferior servants of the company, whose habits of business established and continually preserved these details free of all let and confusion. The Presidency, as soon as re-established in its usual forms, acknowledged their sense of the zeal and constancy with which the garrison had sustained every danger and fatigue; and no men ever better deserved this testimony; for scarce a murmur had been uttered: all was emulation. All however acknowledged that the enemy, in proportion to their numbers, compared with the strength of the garrison and works, had pushed the attack with unremitting perseverance and endeavour, and the enemy equally respected the science and steadiness of the defence. Indeed most of the principal officers of the company's troops had been inured to service under their general Colonel Lawrence, whom they still regarded as their preceptor in the siege: they were, Major Polier; the Captains Pascall,