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Rh exhaustion, two days after his landing at Madras. His successor, Stuart, who had meanwhile done nothing but quarrel with the Madras Council, now wasted some precious weeks in marching against Cuddalore, where Bussy's troops had landed on the 10th April. By that time Tipú had rushed away from the Karnatic to deal with the English invaders from the west. In three months General Matthews had to surrender the ruins of Bednor on terms which his captor took care to violate. Mangalore, under Colonel Campbell, held out for nine months with heroic obstinacy against an army 100,000 strong.

Meanwhile, on the 13th June, Stuart's army, after a hard day's fighting, carried the outer line of Bussy's defences at Cuddalore. But Suffren presently grappled with Hughes at sea, and another drawn battle compelled the latter to sail off and repair his damages at Madras. A well-planned sortie from the reinforced garrison of Cuddalore was signally repulsed by the Bengal Sepoys. But Bussy still held the citadel, and Stuart's numbers were fast dwindling from sickness and short supplies, when tidings of peace made between France and England came just in time to save our arms from imminent disaster, and to rob Tipú of his last and doughtiest allies. In accordance with the Treaty of Versailles, Bussy withdrew his troops from Tipú's service, and Stuart's army returned in safety to Madras.

Ere long a powerful force under Colonel Fullarton