Page:The Marquess of Hastings, K.G..djvu/81

Rh pressed in consequence of this misfortune, defended themselves gallantly to the last, and made a spirited night attack; but after a very severe fight they were again repulsed with loss, and the next day guns were brought to bear at a close range upon the town itself. Finding all further resistance useless, the Gúrkha commander proposed to treat, and a convention was agreed to, 27th April 1815, by which the whole province of Kumáun with all its strongholds were surrendered, and the Gúrkha troops removed to the east of the Kálí river.

General Martindell, who succeeded Gillespie in the command of the second division, which had already suffered considerably, did not again move against Jaitak till the 12th February; after fighting some skirmishes with varying fortune, and laboriously overcoming the physical difficulties of getting heavy guns into almost inaccessible positions, he levelled the enemy's stockades to the ground by artillery fire, 20th March; but having accomplished so much, he now unaccountably came to the conclusion that it would be unsafe to assault the open town, though his forces were double the number of those of his opponents, and he preferred to blockade them and reduce the place by starvation. The investment of Jaitak was completed in the middle of April, in the course of which several actions took place, where the British were uniformly successful; but the process adopted was a lengthy one, and Martindell's plan did not secure the capitulation of the stronghold.