File:Sepoys, Bengal Army.jpg

English: Identifier: comprehensivehis01beve

Title: A comprehensive history of India, civil, military, and social, from the first landing of the English to the suppression of the Sepoy revolt; including an outline of the early history of Hindoostan Year: 1900 (1900s) Authors: Beveridge, Henry, 1837-1929 Subjects: Publisher: London, Blackie Contributing Library: Robarts - University of Toronto Digitizing Sponsor: University of Toronto

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Text Appearing Before Image: h with some cannon into it. Afterthe capture of Chittapet and Aicot, suspecting that he had committed himselfto the losing party, he wrote Coote, pretending that the French had gainedadmittance by surprise, and offering to assist him in ousting them. It seemedworth while to put his sincerity to the test; and hence, when the rest of the armywas on the way to Tindyvanum, Coote had preceded them with most of thecavalry, and two companies of sepoys, and advanced as far as PermacoiL Itconsisted, as usual, of a pettali or town, and a fort; the former smTOunded withmud walls, and the latter crowning the summit of a precipitous rock, rising tothe height of 300 feet at its narrow end, and gi-adually lowering to 200 feet atthe other. The governor gave all the assistance he had promised; but it wouldhave been of little avail had the garrison, though smaU, been properly providedfor a siege. Shortly after the attack began their fire slackened from want of Chap. XI.] COOTES CONTINUED SUCCESSES. 631

Text Appearing After Image: ammunition. Still, however, they maintained the defence manfully at a consi- a.d. itoo.derable loss of life to the besiegers, and six days elapsed before they surrendered.Lally on this, as on many other occasions, was only a little too late. A largedetachment was actually on the way to throwa considerable reinforcement of men andstores into the fort, when intelligence ofCootes approacii frustrated the design. The reduction of the places still in pos-session of the French might now be consideredas merely a work of time, and the Britishj)roceeded to attack fort after fort withMJmost unvarying success. It is affirmed,hideed, by Lally, that had they, instead ofdirecting their attention to subordinate ob-jects, marched dueet upon Pondicherry, theymight liave made themselves masters of it ineight days. On such a subject he ought tobe a good authority; but as he makes thisstatement when his object was to show howshamefully the authorities had acted in notproviding better for its defence, it

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