No. XIII.

THE RIGHT HONOURABLE

GENERAL SIR DAVID BAIRD, G.C.B. & K.C.

A PRIVY COUNSELLOR FOR IRELAND, GOVERNOR OF FORT GEORGE, AND COLONEL OF THE 24TH REGIMENT.

THIS distinguished and experienced officer was descended from a junior branch of the Bairds, of Auchmedden, in Banffshire. He was the fifth (but second surviving) son of William Baird, Esq. (heir, by settlement, of his second cousin Sir John Baird, of Newbyth, Bart.) by Alicia, fourth daughter of Johnstone, Esq. of Hilltown, co. Berwick.

He entered the army as an Ensign in the 2d foot, the 16th of December, 1772; joined the regiment at Gibraltar in April, 1773, and returned to England in 1776. In 1778 he obtained his Lieutenancy; and on the 24th of September, 1778, the grenadier company of a regiment then raised by Lord Macleod, named the 73d: this corps he joined at Elgin, from whence he marched to Fort George, and embarked for Guernsey. In 1779, he embarked for the East Indies, and arrived at Madras in January, 1780.

Thus, scarcely was the 73d regiment raised, and its commissions filled up, when it was ordered by the Government to enter upon a scene and on a service which at once crowned it with glory, and annihilated every thing belonging to it but its never-dying name; so effectually, indeed, annihilated it, that it is reported, one serjeant is the only individual surviving of the original 73d.

A cursory view of the state of affairs in India at that period may not be irrelevant.

Of all the powers then in India the principal was that of the Mysore, as governed by Hyder Ally; a man who, from a soldier of fortune, had become a sovereign prince; and a barbarian who, to a ferocious ignorance and contempt of all that in Europe is called public law, united a military skill, an active ambition, and a refined policy, which have been possessed by few European princes. The neighbourhood, as well as the talents of this prince, rendered him at the same time equally formidable to the English establishments and to the other native powers. In such a state of things, it certainly seemed to be the most reasonable policy in the English factories, either to conciliate the friendship of a prince so powerful; or, on the basis of a common interest, to form such defensive alliances with the other powers of India, as might restrain and control his restless ambition. The English, however, instead of this evident prudence, contrived at the same time to provoke Hyder and all the other powers against them. In the year 1768, they rashly commenced a war, which Hyder most successfully terminated by dictating a treaty at the very gates of Madras. This treaty was altogether as moderate as the circumstances under which it was concluded were absolute and decisive. The fact was, that Hyder Ally, being justly fearful of the Mahrattas, was desirous of the English assistance, and hoped to conciliate the English Government by his moderation. The treaty, therefore, under circumstances in which it might have commanded every thing, took nothing; containing, instead of concessions, a stipulation, that the contracting parties should mutually assist each other against any enemy that might attack either. The treaty was scarcely concluded, before Hyder, with that sagacity which distinguished his character, resolved to ascertain the value of the faith and friendship of his new ally. Accordingly, on the commencement of the war with the Mahrattas, which immediately after broke out, he wrote a letter to the Governor of Madras, requesting him, as a token of his friendship and regard, and for mere form's sake, to send an officer and 500 Sepoys to his assistance. The Government

of Madras, however, evaded a compliance. In the following year, 1770, the Mahrattas having reduced Hyder to great distress, he made a second application, and appealed to the express stipulations of the treaty. The Government of Madras again evaded his requisition. The Mahrattas, continuing their hostility, so totally overpowered him, that his ruin seemed inevitable. They became masters of all his open country, and his strongest fortresses were barely capable of affording him refuge and protection. Thus shut up, and all cultivation at an end in his dominions, it seemed evident, that however excellently his magazines were provided, famine must soon accomplish what hitherto the want of infantry and of a good artillery had prevented the Mahrattas from effecting. In this state of necessity, Hyder again applied to his new allies for the performance of their engagements, stating the advantages to themselves of assisting him against a power, the overwhelming predominance of which already threatened the independence of the peninsula. These applications produced no more effect at Madras than the former. The Company most shamefully eluded the execution of their treaty, whilst at the same time, in their very procrastination and evasion, they acknowledged its obligation.

The fortune of Hyder at length triumphed over all his dangers and enemies; and, without the intervention of any friend or ally, he procured, in the year 1772, a favourable, and even an honourable peace. The subsequent dissensions and troubles of the Mahrattas, and more particularly the egregious folly of the Presidency of Bombay, enabled him not only to recover all that he had lost, but greatly to increase his power and dominion by new conquests. After the direct breach of faith which, in his hour of peril and necessity, he had experienced from the Government of Madras, it was not to be reasonably expected that he could again regard it with any friendship or cordiality. He was too good a statesman, however, to disclose his sentiments wantonly, and therefore still preserved a civil but cool intercourse. In this state of things he naturally fell into the hands of France, by whom he

was liberally supplied with artillery, arms, ammunition, and all other military necessaries. That politic nation saw the infinite advantage that might be derived from his friendship, in their future designs on the Carnatic. Their officers were permitted, if not encouraged, to enter into his service, to train his armies, and to form a powerful artillery upon the European model.

In this manner Hyder Ally prepared for the gratification of two concurrent passions, ambition and revenge, which equally possessed his mind. He hated the English Company with all his soul, and his soul was that of a barbarian who owed his elevation to his ferocious energy and determined crimes. The Company, upon their part, as active in raising mischiefs, as they were blind to the consequences, *seconded all his efforts, and provoked every power of India into a confederacy against them. Availing himself of these opportunities, Hyder at length concluded a secret treaty with the Mahrattas and the Nizam of the Decan, the purport of which was the expulsion of the English from the Peninsula. Every thing being thus ripe, and the English Company being in a state of stupid security, on a sudden, about the 20th of July, in the year 1780, Hyder forced his way through the gauts, and burst at once, like a mountain-torrent, into the Carnatic. No care whatever had been taken to guard these mountain defiles, nor did he meet with any other obstruction to his passage than what arose from the narrowness and difficulty of the ground.

Such was the state of things and the nature of the war upon which Lord Macleod and his new-raised regiment, the 73d, had to enter immediately upon their arrival in India. In fact, they had scarcely landed, and the whole of them had not landed, before they were called into active service, and ordered to prepare for immediate battle.

Hyder's army was roundly reckoned at 100,000 men; and by the most accurate accounts they exceeded 80,000, besides a strong body under a. General of the name of Meer Saib, who had entered the Company's territories on the north. In

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the grand army under his own command, it was computed that he had about 41,000 well disciplined foot, and 20,000 good cavalry. This force was rendered still more formidable and effective by the aid of Lally's troops, and a great number of French officers who served his artillery, and even directed all his marches and operations. The English army, ready to oppose this invasion, did not consist of 5000 men: these were commanded by Sir Hector Monroe, as Commander-inchief. They were stationed at the Mount, in the immediate neighbourhood of Madras, in order to cover that city. Here they were joined by Lord Macleod and the 73d, who were marched to the camp on the same day that they landed from the ships.

Hyder Ally, after a march across the country, which he marked by fire and sword, suddenly turned upon Arcot; and on the 21st of August, 1780, sat down before that city, as the first operation of the war. Arcot was the capital town of the territory of the nabob of that name, the only prince in India who was friendly and in alliance with the Company. It contained immense stores of provisions, and what was equally wanted, a vast treasure of money. There was another very important reason, which, on the part of the English, required an immediate attention to this movement: Colonel Baillie, with a very considerable body of the troops, was in the northern circars; and Hyder Ally, by besieging Arcot, had interposed himself between this detachment and the main English army. Orders were accordingly immediately sent to Colonel Baillie to hasten to the Mount to join the main army; and Sir Hector Monroe at once to meet Colonel Baillie, and to raise the siege of Arcot, marched on the 25th of August with his army for Conjeveram, a place forty miles distant from Madras, in the Arcot road.

The whole English army, including Lord Macleod's regiment, did not exceed 6000 men and 30 artillery. They were followed during the whole way by the enemy's horse. They were four days on their march to Conjeveram, and when they arrived found the whole country under water, and no provi