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432 tain Sparkes, with only 107 Sepoys; but, finding they were far more numerous than he had been led to expect, he took up the first position that presented itself. Sparkes maintained this post for some hours, until he had lost half his men, and consumed nearly all his powder. He then displayed a white flag, but the signal was disregarded. Sparkes was shot dead in attempting to cut a way through the enemy; and every man of his detachment was literally cut to pieces by the Arabs, with the exception of nine who had been left in the rear, in charge of the baggage.

At the close of the year 1818, while Colonel Adams was establishing stations of cavalry and infantry round the country of Chyn Shah, that chief, with two or three thousand of his Goands, made a bold attempt to recover for Appa Sahib some of the forts in Nagpore; but these attempts were frustrated, and both Chyn Shah and the fugitive Rajah were obliged to seek refuge once more in the Mahadeo hills and fastnesses. In the month of February, 1819, Colonel Adams entered these mountains from the Nerbudda valley, with three separate columns; and other divisions coming up to co-operate with him, Appa Sahib fled to Asseerghur, where he was received and sheltered by the Killadar Jeswunt Rao Lar, a bitter enemy of the English.

Asseerghur was a droog, or mountain fortress, belonging to Scindia, standing on a scarped hill, the height of which was 750 feet above the plain; it was exceedingly strong by art as well as by nature, and mounted a tremendous artillery, including some guns of enormous size. The force assembled against Asseerghur, under the command of General Doveton, comprised, either in whole or in part, the Royal Scots, the 30th and 67th King's regiments, the Madras European regiment, the 7th, 12th, and 17th regiments Madras Native Infantry, the 2nd and 7th Madras Native Cavalry, and an immense battering-train. General Doveton arrived in the vicinity about the middle of February, 1819, and on the 17th