Page:Final French Struggles in India and on the Indian Seas.djvu/225

Rh The two armies met midway between the forts of Kardlá and Parindá. The battle which ensued was the first great departure since the death of Mádhají Sindia from the policy of that great statesman; the first marked deviation from his principle of one general alliance against an enemy who would otherwise destroy them piecemeal. It was fought the 12th March, 1795. The Maráthás occupied a defensive position, of which Perron's troops formed the left. On the high ground near him Perron had placed his artillery, and he supported this arm by the infantry and cavalry in the plain below. The troops of Dudrenec and Boyd were with Holkar in the centre.

The battle began by an advance of the Mahommedans on the right wing and centre of the Maráthás. The attack completely succeeded. The Maráthá right wing was driven on to its centre, at the same time that the centre itself was completely broken by the steady advance of Raymond's drilled troops. These divisions fled in confusion, carrying Dudrenec's and Boyd's men with them, and endeavouring to seek a refuge behind the still unbroken left. Towards this left covered and supported by a cavalry flushed with victory Raymond now advanced. Perron allowed him to approach almost within musket-shot, and then suddenly opened a concentrated and continuous fire from the thirty-five guns loaded with grape which he had placed on the eminence. At the same moment Rághújí Bhonslá assailed the Mahommedan cavalry with a shower of rockets, the