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354 The majority of the officers refused to sign the test, and were consequently removed from their stations; but the appeal to the native officers and men was very generally successful.

The only stations at which the agitation was not suppressed without recourse to more stringent correctives were Mysore and Hyderabad. In the former of these districts the officers of the garrison of Seringapatam, rendered desperate by the measures of the Government for separating the native soldiers from their officers, rushed into unbridled violence and open rebellion. Compelling a small detachment of his Majesty's troops to withdraw from the fort, they seized upon the public treasure, drew up the bridges, and placed themselves in an attitude of defiance; disobeying the orders of Colonel Davis, commanding in Mysore, and disregarding the remonstrances of the Political Resident, the Honourable Arthur Cole. A detachment consisting of the 25th Dragoons, a regiment of native cavalry, with a regiment of his Majesty's foot, and a native battalion, commanded by Colonel Gibbs, marched to Seringapatam, where they encamped; while a corps of Mysore horse, which had been supplied by the Dewan, was sent forward to intercept the advance of two battalions on their way from Chittledroog to reinforce the garrison.

The Mysore horse met the battalions at some distance from Seringapatam about the 7th of August; but no forcible opposition was offered until the 11th, when the Chittledroog troops were in sight of the walls of Seringapatam, and of the camp of the detachment by which the fortress was observed. Encouraged by the proximity of the latter, the Mysoreans began to harass the march of the battalions, and were fired upon. The resistance was, however, feeble; for on the approach of the Dragoons the Chittledroog battalions broke and dispersed. The greater part effected their escape into the fort, the garrison of which had made a demonstration in their favour. The officer who commanded was wounded and taken prisoner;