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Rh routed his great antagonist at Sholinghar. By this time the Dutch also were at war with England. But, thanks to Hastings' influence and Coote's strategy, bolder counsels had begun to prevail at Madras. The spendthrift ruler of the Karnatic was relieved of all control over the revenues of a province still to be administered in his name. In November, 1781, Negapatam was wrested from the Dutch by Sir Hector Munro, with the help of an English fleet led by the active Sir Edward Hughes. This was followed early in the next year by the capture of Trincomali, the finest harbour in Ceylon.

All through the year 1781, the war went on with varying fortune. The relief of Vellore by the war-worn Coote was countervailed by the slaughter of Braithwaite's column in Tanjore at the hands of Haidar's son, Tipú, during an heroic struggle prolonged for twenty-six hours. A timely reinforcement from Bombay enabled the garrison of Tellicherri, on the Malabar coast, to rout an army which had been closely besieging them for eighteen months. But Cuddalore was taken with the help of Haidar's French allies; and Sir Edward Hughes was too late to avert the recapture of Trincomali by the daring Suffren, the Nelson of France. The fleets commanded by these two great sailors never met without doing each other the utmost damage at the least apparent gain to either side.