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162 his army in a strong post near Cuddalore, where he at once maintained his communication with the sea, and cut off the supplies of his opponent. This station was extremely formidable; but Sir Eyre Coote, skilfully leading his men through a passage formed by the enemy for a different purpose, drew them up in the face of several powerful batteries, as well as of a vast body of cavalry. The battle raged for six hours, and every inch of ground was fiercely contested. "Every individual in the Company's service," says one chronicler of the battle, "fought as if the fate of the day had depended on his single efforts." Their energy met its reward in a brilliant victory: at four o'clock the enemy's line gave way, and a precipitate retreat followed. Hyder, seated on a portable stool upon an eminence in the rear of his army, was struck with amazement at the success of the attack, and burst into the most furious passion; refusing for some time to move from the spot, till a trusty old servant seizing the feet of the chief, forced on his slippers, and placed him on a swift horse, which bore him out of the reach of danger.

The English army engaged on that day amounted to about eight thousand men, while that of Hyder was at least eight times that number. The enemy had forty-seven pieces of cannon of heavy calibre; the English