‘Twenty-four casualties?’ Harris mused. ‘Not as bad as it could have been, Colonel. Too bad about Fitzgerald. He was a fine young man.’
It was shortly after midnight and Arthur stood before the general in the headquarters tent, still in sodden, muddy clothes. A bloodstained dressing had been tied round the flesh wound just above his knee. His face was rigid with barely suppressed rage as he replied. ‘Twenty-four of my men is bad enough, sir, considering they never should have been sent into the tope in the first place.’
‘It was a risk,’ Harris admitted. ‘And it failed. The tope is still in enemy hands. I had hoped we might save time by taking it tonight, but we’ll just have to make another attempt tomorrow, in daylight. I’ll give the job to Baird.’
‘Sir, I respectfully submit that I should command the second attempt.’
‘But you’re wounded.’
‘It was my task, sir. I deserve another chance.’
‘Really?’ Harris stared at him for a moment, and Arthur was sure that he would refuse.Then the general shrugged. ‘Very well, Wellesley, as you wish.The command is yours. But the 33rd needs a rest.You’ll have the Scottish Brigade for the job. Make sure you see it through.’
‘I will, sir.You have my word.’
‘Good. Now go and clean yourself up and get some sleep.’
‘Sir.’ Arthur saluted and turned painfully to stride out of the tent, only resorting to a limp when he was out of the general’s sight. As he rode Diomed back to the encampment of the Nizam’s column he decided that if the night’s disaster had taught him one thing, it was never to conduct any operations under cover of darkness, if it could be avoided. Never again would he lose control of his men in that way.The spectre of failure haunted him through the early hours. He tried to rest, but the vision of Fitzgerald’s face, as he died by the light of the surgeon’s lantern, returned to Arthur again and again, and robbed him of any sleep.
Chapter 49
Throughout April the army pushed its siege lines forward, capturing the enemy positions on the western bank of the south Cauvery river. The tope was taken in daylight and most of the bodies of the 33rd’s grenadiers were recovered, but eight remained unaccounted for and Arthur feared that they must have been taken prisoner. Once the enemy outposts had been cleared from in front of Seringapatam’s walls General Harris gave orders for the construction of strongly fortified batteries for the heavy siege guns that Arthur had procured while the army assembled for the campaign. At a range of nine hundred yards the guns methodically knocked out the enemy cannon along the western wall of Seringapatam before turning to pound the corner bastions into rubble.Then on the second day of May the batteries were aimed at the point along the wall that General Harris had chosen to be breached. An intense bombardment followed over the next two days, until a wide section of the city’s wall had been smashed through and Harris was satisfied that an assault could be made over the rubble.
That night he assembled his senior officers and announced his plan of attack.‘It’s important that we take the city on the first attempt.The first of the monsoon rains might arrive in the next two weeks and the
‘Who is to command the reserve, sir?’ Arthur asked. He already knew that the 33rd had been selected for the assault force and was looking forward to leading them into the attack.
‘You are.’
‘Me?’ Arthur started and some of the other officers could not help smiling at his surprised expression.Arthur fought back a flush of irritation with himself. ‘But who is to lead my regiment, sir?’
‘Major Shee.’
‘Sir, if my regiment is to be part of the attack, then I should be with them.’
Harris shook his head. ‘I need a steady head to control the reserve column. As soon as the attack goes in, you are to march your column across the river and wait outside the breach. I’m trusting you to use your judgement as to whether Baird needs any support. Is that clear, Wellesley?’
There was little chance of altering the general’s mind at this stage and Arthur accepted his role in the coming battle with as much grace as he could muster.
‘Yes, sir.’
‘Very well then, gentlemen. The men will move forward in the trenches before dawn and keep out of sight until the signal to attack is given at midday. Make sure all your officers are thoroughly briefed on the attack, and try to get some sleep, if you can.’ Harris gave them a wry grin, and then gestured towards the tent flap. His officers rose from their chairs and filed out.
‘Wellesley?’
Arthur turned back. ‘Yes, sir?’
‘A word, if you please.’
Once the last of the other officers had quit the tent Harris spoke. ‘I have good reasons for assigning you to command the reserve.’
‘I’m sure you do, sir.’
Harris looked at him sharply. ‘Don’t try to be ironic, Colonel. It doesn’t become a senior officer in my army.’
‘No, sir.’
Harris sighed. ‘The fact of the matter is that I need an officer with sound judgement to command the reserve. The assault column is a different matter. Baird is a born fighter and he wants revenge for the years he spent chained in the dungeons of Seringapatam. Who better to command the attack?’
‘Baird’s the man right enough, sir. But why am I to be denied my place at the head of the 33rd?’
‘If the attack goes badly I’ll need you to retrieve the situation. And if the attack fails, then it is vital that a path is kept open through which Baird and his men can retreat. That is why you are the best man to command the reserve, just as Baird is the best man to lead the attack.’
Arthur’s heart was warmed by his superior’s praise. ‘I apologise, sir. I should not have questioned your orders.’
‘No. You shouldn’t. Besides, there is another reason for keeping you out of the assault column.’
‘Sir?’
‘You’ll find out soon enough, assuming that we defeat Tipoo tomorrow.’
The last men of the assault columns were in position shortly before dawn rose across the lush green landscape surrounding Seringapatam. They carried only their muskets and a haversack for their cartridges to ensure that they were not encumbered as they negotiated the rubble that sloped up to the breach. As soon as they were in place, their officers ordered them to sit down and stay still. The sun rose up out of the light haze that hung over the verdant landscape, but as soon as it was high enough for the warmth of its rays to be felt the temperature rose quickly.Within an hour the men in the trenches, huddled together, began to stew in the heat of the Indian day. Around them, in view of the enemy, the engineers began work on a new battery close to the river’s edge in an attempt to mislead Tipoo about the imminence of an attack. The siege guns continued a monotonous bombardment of a section of the wall some distance upriver of the breach, while a handful of sepoy pickets patrolled the banks of the south Cauvery to discourage any attempt by the enemy to probe the lines of General Harris’s army.
Just after eleven in the morning Arthur made his way forward. He found Baird with the men of the ‘forlorn hope’: a handful of volunteers led by a sergeant whose task it was to rush the breach and hold it long enough for the main column to advance through the gap. Baird had brought a jug of arrack with him and it was being passed around the men as Arthur squatted down beside the massive Scottish officer. Baird eyed him suspiciously as they exchanged a quick salute.
‘What can I do for you, young Wellesley?’
Arthur stiffened slightly at being addressed in this manner, but then held out his hand. ‘I came to wish you
