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 Bombay, by Arthur Wellesley. On 17 Oct. Lake took Agra after eight days' siege. On 1 Nov. at Leswarree, a village eighty miles south of Delhi, Lake routed and destroyed a body of Scindia's troops detached from the Deccan, with which was the remnant of Perron's battalions escaped from Delhi (ib. vi. 512–17). The conflict was, perhaps, more remarkable for daring than generalship, but its results were decisive. It demoralised Scindia's forces before the final rout of the maharajah's forces by Wellesley at Argaum on the 29th of the same month, which ended the war (, Decisive Battles of India, p. 293). During the battle Lake had two horses killed under him, and his son, Lieutenant-colonel George A. F. Lake, was wounded by a cannon-shot at his side as Lake was mounting to head the decisive charge of the 76th. A painting of the incident by Sir William Beechey, R.A., was among the king of Oude's treasures destroyed in the Alumbagh in 1857. Thus, in a little over two months (29 Aug.–1 Nov. 1803), with a force at no time exceeding eight thousand combatants, Lake destroyed thirty-one of Scindia's European-trained battalions, captured the strong fortress of Alyghur, entered the imperial city of Delhi as a conqueror, took Agra, captured 426 pieces of cannon, and defeated the enemy in four pitched battles, the last being one of the most decisive ever fought in India (ib. p. 294). Lake received the thanks of parliament, and on 1 Sept. 1804 was raised to the peerage as Baron Lake of Delhi and Leswarree and of Aston Clinton, Buckinghamshire, the latter being his seat, near Tring. Lake chose for his supporters a grenadier of the 76th foot and a Bengal sepoy. The inhabitants of Calcutta presented him with a sword of great value, and his officers gave him a magnificent service of plate. Peace with Scindia was finally signed at Berhanpore in February 1804.

The French power in India having thus been hopelessly destroyed, and the influence of Gwalior and Berar checked, Wellesley next sought to curb the powers of another suspected Mahratta chieftain, Jeswunt Rao Holkar, maharajah of Indore. Holkar subsequently attacked Delhi, which was gallantly defended by David Ochterlony and James Baron. Lake, who had followed Holkar from Muttra to Delhi, started thence in pursuit on 31 Oct. 1804, with the 8th light dragoons (now hussars), the 24th (late 27th), and 25th (late 29th) light dragoons, with their galloper-guns, some regiments of Bengal light cavalry, and a considerable body of irregular cavalry. Between 31 Oct. and 17 Nov. he covered 350 miles. Before daybreak on 17 Nov., his troops having marched, it is said, seventy miles during the preceding twenty-four hours, Lake surprised Holkar's camp near Furruckabad, and routed and dispersed his army with terrible slaughter. Hearing that the rajah of Bhurtpore, who had been our ally, was aiding Holkar, Lake marched against him. On Christmas day 1804 the fortress of Deig was captured by Major-general John Henry Fraser, 88th foot, and on 2 Jan. 1805 Lake broke ground against the famous fortress of Bhurtpore. He was unprovided with a battering train, or other means of prosecuting a siege. Four desperate but unsuccessful attempts were made to carry the place by storm, with an aggregate loss of 388 killed and 1,924 wounded, and the enterprise was then abandoned (cf., vol. vi. note pp. 605–10). But the rajah, wearied of the war and of Lake's stubborn pertinacity, soon after offered terms of peace, which were accepted. From Bhurtpore Lake moved in the direction of Gwalior, halting at Dholpore. Holkar had then retired from the neighbourhood of Bhurtpore. Wellesley's last despatch to Lake, dated 17 May 1805, expresses the hope that further military operations will be unnecessary, but insists on the need of preparation (Wellesley Despatches in India, iv. 535–41).

On 29 July 1805 Cornwallis, Wellesley's successor, arrived at Calcutta, invested with joint powers as governor-general and commander-in-chief. Lake, as second in seniority, then took the Bengal presidency command. Cornwallis came pledged to a more pacific policy, and with an expressed determination ‘to bring this wretched and unprofitable war to an end.’ His views were diametrically opposed to those held by Lake, and in a friendly letter to Lake he announced his supersession in the military command-in-chief (see Cornwallis Correspondence, iii. 543 et seq., 555–6). Lake appears to have addressed a strong remonstrance to Cornwallis, which was never answered, as Cornwallis died at Ghazepore, when on his way up country, on 5 Oct. 1805. Lake, learning that Holkar had gone off towards the Punjâb to seek aid from the Sikhs, started with a force in pursuit as far as the Sutlej (Hyphasis). Disappointed of the expected aid from the Sikh chieftains, Holkar offered terms of peace, which were accepted by Lake at Umritsar in December 1805. Lake appears to have proposed to make the Sutlej the boundary of British India. No notice was taken of the suggestion at the time, although it was acted upon by Lord Minto some years later. Cornwallis's successor as governor-general (acting), Sir George Hilaro Barlow [q. v.], was not only as pacific in