560 
him with the cavalry alone. By 
cutting the embankment of a large 
reservoir of water, the enemy had 
rendered the road very difficult to 
pass, which caused a considerable 
delay in the advance of the cavalry ; 
of this the enemy had availed him- 
self to take an advantageous post, 
having his right upon a rivulet, 
which we had to cross, and his left 
upon the village of Laswaree ; the 
whole of his front was amply pro- 
vided with artillery. I was pre- 
vented from discovering this change 
in the situation of the enemy by the 
quantity of dust which, when once 
clear of the water, totally obscured 
him from our sight; 1 therefore 
proceeded in the execution of my 
design, by which I hoped to pre- 
vent his retreat into the hills, and 
secure his guns ;,directing the ad- 
vanced guard, and first brigade, com- 
manded by col. Vandeleur, upon 
the point where I had observed the 
enemy in motion, but which proy- 
ed to be the left of his new position ; 
the remainder of the cavalry I or- 
dered to attack in succession, as 
soon as they could form after pas- 
sing the rivulet. 
The charge of the advanced guard 
under major Griffith, and that of 
the first brigade, led by colonel 
Vandeleur, was made with much 
gallantry ; the enemy’s line was 
forced, and the cavalry penetrated 
into the village; they still, how- 
ever, continued to be exposed to a 
most galling fire of cannon and 
musquetry, which, as it was impos- 
sible under such circumstances to 
form the squadrons for a fresh at- 
tack, determined me to withdraw 
them. The guns which had fallen 
into our hands could not be brought 
away, from the want of bullocks. 
In this charge, colonel Vandeleur 
ANNUAL REGISTER, 1803. 
fell, mortally wounded ; in him the 
service has lost a most valuable of- 
ficer. 
The attacks of the other brigades 
were conducted with the same spirit, 
but after taking several of the ene- 
my’s guns, being still fired upon, 
without being able to discover the 
enemy, they retired in good order, 
retaining possession of a part of the 
artillery. In the performance of 
this service, the third brigade, con- 
sisting of his majesty’s 29th regi- 
ment, and the 4th regiment of na- 
tive cavalry, under the command of 
that meritorious officer, colonel 
Macan, met my entire approba- 
tion. 
The infantry having marched at 
three, A.M. arrived upon the banks 
of the rivulet about eleven o'clock. 
After so long a march, it was abso-» 
lutely necessary to allow some time 
for the men to refresh themselves, 
during which the enemy sent in to 
say, that if certain terms were al- 
lowed them, they were willing to 
surrender their guns. Anxious to 
prevent the further effusion of 
blood, I directed a letter to be 
written, asquiescing in their pro- 
posals, and allowing them an hour 
to decide ; in the mean time, the 
several columns for the attack were 
formed. The infantry formed in 
two columpvs upon the left; the 
first, composed of the right wing, 
under the command of major-ge- 
neral Ware, was destined to gain 
the enemy’s right flank, which he 
had thrown back since the morning, 
leaving a considerable space between 
it and the rivulet, and to assault the 
village of Laswaree: the second, 
composed of the left wing under 
major-general St. John, Was tosup- 
port the first column. ‘The 3d bri- 
gade of cavalry, under col. Macan, 
3 was 
