218 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1804. 



of Assye, on the riplit of (he British 

 army : a second line was foruied 

 nearly at right angles, to the rear 

 of the enemy's firs:t line, with ifs 

 left towards the village of Assye, 

 and its rear to the Juiih riyer, along 

 the bank of which it extended in 

 a westerly direi^tion from Assye. 

 General Wcllcslcy immediately 

 attacked, and the British troops 

 advanced under a heavy fire from 

 the enemy's guns, the execution of 

 which was terrible. The British 

 artillery had opened upon the ene- 

 my at the distance of 400 yards, 

 hui finding that it produced little or 

 no effect, and that it could not ad- 

 vance on account of the numbir of 

 men and bullocks that were disabled, 

 general Wellesley ordered the m hole 

 line to move on, leaving the guns 

 behind : at the same time colonel 

 Maxwell, with the British cavalry, 

 was ordered to cover the right of 

 the infantry as it advanced. By 

 this prompt and spirited movement, 

 the enemy was compelled to fall 

 back on the second line, in front of 

 the Juah, In the advancing, the 

 right of the British first and second 

 lines sulfered severely from the fire 

 of the guns on the left of the ene- 

 Biy's position near Assye. The 74th 

 regiment was so thinned by the 

 dreadful cannonade, that a body of 

 t!ie enemy's cavalry was tempted to 

 clfarge it ; but was charged in turn, 

 by colonel Maxwell, and pushed, 

 ■with great slaughter, into the Juaii 

 river. At length, the steady ad- 

 vance of the British troops com- 

 pletely over-awing the enemy's line, 

 it gave way in every direflion, 

 and the British cavalry, who had 

 crossed to the nortliward of the Juah 



river, charged the fugitives alon^ 

 its bank with the greatest clfect. 

 At this moment several of the ene- 

 my's guns, which had been carried, 

 but could not be secured on account 

 of the weakness of general Welles- 

 ley's army, were turned against his 

 rear by individuals M'ho had been 

 passed by tiie British line, under 

 the supposition that they were dead, 

 and M'ho had availed themselves of 

 this artifice, (of throwing themselves 

 upon the ground, often praftiscd 

 by (he native troops of India,) 

 to continue, for some time, a very 

 heavy fire; nor could it be stop- 

 ped till the commander in chief 

 toofv the 7Sth regiment and the 7th 

 of native cavalry, to effeft this ob- 

 ject. In this operation the general 

 had his horse shot under him. The 

 enemy's cavalry also still conti- 

 nued unbroken. Just then a part 

 of the enemy's infantry, which had 

 again formed, on a charge of the 

 British cavalry,* gave way, and re- 

 treated, leaving 1200 men dead on 

 the field of battle, the whole coun- 

 try covered with the wounded, and 

 in the possession of the victors 98 

 pieces of cannon, their camp equi- 

 page, seven standards, a great num- 

 ber of bullocks and camels, and 

 a quantity of stores and ammu- 

 nition. 



The loss to thejBritish army was, 

 on this occasion, very severe, it 

 amounting to about 600 killed and 

 1500 wounded. The aclionconti-i 

 nued for more than three hour5, 

 during which the, enemy's infantry | 

 fought with the most determined I 

 courage, and their artillery was serv- 

 ed with the utmost precision, steadi- 

 ness, and efl'ert. Throughout tin- 



* In which the callant colonel Maxwell was slain. For tho olYicial report vi 

 this memorable victory, see our volume for 1803, p, 556. 



whols 



