On the following morning the army advanced, and arrived before Seringapatam on the 5th. of April, when preparations for the siege were at once commenced.

An attack was made on an entrenchment of the enemy about six o'clock in the evening of the 20th. of April, in which the flank companies of the 12th. and the 73rd. regiments were employed. This was fully successful, and although the enemy had two hundred and fifty men killed and wounded, and the entrenchment was occupied by about eighteen hundred of Tippoo's infantry, the British had but one man wounded.

The siege was prosecuted with vigour, and a breach being reported practicable on the 3rd. of May, the assault was ordered tɔ take place in the heat of the following day, as the besieged would then be the least prepared to oppose the attack. On this service were employed the ten flank companies of the European corps necessarily left to guard the camp and outposts, followed by the 12th., 33rd., 73rd., and 74th. regiments, three corps of grenadier Sepoys, two hundred of the Nizam's troops, a hundred of the artillery, and the corps of pioneers, the whole under the orders of Major-General (afterwards Sir David) Baird. The assault took place about half-past one o'clock in the afternoon of the 4th. of May, and in a short space of time the British colours waved over the fortress.* The Major-General had divided his force for the purpose of clearing the ramparts to the right and left; one division was commanded by Colonel Sherbrooke, and the other by LieutenantColonel Dunlop; the latter was wounded, but both corps, although strongly opposed, were completely successful. The spirited attack, led by Lieutenant-Colonel Campbell, of the 74th. Highlanders, was particularly mentioned in general orders, in which all the officers and men were thanked for this memorable achievement. The body of Tippoo Sultan was found among heaps of slain, and was afterwards interred in the magnificent mausoleum which he had erected over the

* Eight stand of colours were captured by the 12th. Foot. A forlorn hope of each attack consisted of a sergeant and twelve Europeans, followed by two subaltern's parties; that of the right column, under Lieutenant Hill, of the 74th., and that of the left column, commanded by Lieutenant Lawrence, of the 77th., the father of sons subsequently memorable in Indian annals, and especially during the recent mutiny.

tomb of his father, the once powerful Hyder Ali, a portion of the victorious troops attending the ceremony.

In this manner terminated the siege of Seringapatam, and the fall of the capital placed the kingdom of Mysore at the disposal of the British government, and destroyed a power in India which had proved itself a formidable enemy.

During the siege the Anglo-Indian troops sustained the following casualties:-Europeans, twenty-two officers killed, and forty-five wounded; non-commissioned officers and men, one hundred and eighty-one killed, and one hundred and twentytwo wounded; native soliders, one hundred and nineteen killed, and four hundred and twenty wounded: twenty-five of the above officers were killed and wounded in the assault.

The following regiments received the Royal permission to bear on their standards, colours, and appointments, the word "SERINGAPATAM," in commemoration of their gallantry in the storming and capture of that city and fortress on the 4th. of May, 1799; namely, the 19th. and 22nd. (late 25th.,) Light Dragoons, (both since disbanded;) the 12th., 33rd., 73rd., 74th., 75th., 77th. regiments, and the Scots Brigade, afterwards the 94th. regiment.*

This was the old 94th., and not the present regiment, which was only ordered to be raised in December, 1823. The former was known for years, as the Scots Brigade before receiving its numerical title on the 25th. of December, 1802. This corps had been formed in 1568, for service in Holland against the oppression of Spain. Being a British corps, it was demanded from the United Provinces by King James II., on the rebellion of the Duke of Monmouth, in 1685, after the suppression of which it returned to Holland. It again embarked for England with the Prince of Orange, at the revolution of 1688, and remained there until the Protestant cause had been established, when it re-embarked for Flanders in 1691, and served in the campaigns of King William III. It remained in the service of Holland until 1793, until it was decided by King George III., upon the application of the British officers remaining in it, to require the corps to return to Great Britain. It was taken on the British establishment on the 5th. of July, 1793. It then consisted of three battalions; in 1795 it was reduced to two battalions, and embarked for Gibraltar. In 1796 it was formed into one battalion, and embarked for the Cape of Good Hope; it proceeded in 1798 to the East Indies, from whence it returned to England in 1808. It embarked for Cadiz and Lisbon, and served in the Peninsular War from January, 1810, to July, 1814. It was disbanded at Belfast on the 24th, of December, 1818.

THE SERINGA PATAM MEDAL,* 1799.

THIS medal was distributed to officers and soldiers-European and Native-on one side of it is represented the storming of the breach of Seringapatam, from an actual drawing on the spot, with the meridian sun, denoting the time of the storm, and the following inscription in Persian underneath:-"The Fort of Seringapatam, the gift of God, the 4th. May, 1799." On the reverse side is the BRITISH LION subduing the TIGER, the emblem of the late Tippoo Sultan's Government, with the period when it was effected, and the following words in Arabic on the banner:-"ASSUD OTTA-UL GHAULIB," signifying the

* For the specimen of the ribbon of the Seringapatam medal I have to acknowledge my obligations to Albert Woods, Esq., Lancaster Herald, and Inspector of Regimental Colours, who has furnished me with much valuable information on this and other points. From a letter addressed to him by the gallant General Sir James L. Caldwell, G.C.B., now in his 91st. year, in reply to a query on this subject, the following interesting particulars have been afforded:-When the medal was issued no ribbon accompanied it, but the recipients were given to understand that it was to be of a deep yellow colour, and about an inch in width. This colour was adopted in reference to the tiger, selected by the Sultan Tippoo as his favourite insignia, the golden throne found in the palace being constructed on the back of that animal, and his chosen Sepoys being clothed in tiger jackets. The head of this animal of the throne is now at Windsor Castle, having been obtained by the Marquis of Wellesley from the prize agents, together with the ideal and fictitious bird termed the "Huma," supposed to ensure perpetual royalty to the person over whose head it is suspended, and being regarded as a bird of Mahomedan Paradise: it is shewn to strangers under the misnomer of the Seringapatam Peacock. The above information was accompanied by a piece of the ribbon, the colour of which resembles the light fur of the tiger. It may be added that the name Tippoo signifies Tiger, and that the tiger-stripe was adopted in the uniform of the Sultan's infantry. In the United Service Museum, amongst other oriental curiosities, are two of Tippoo's pistols, having a tiger's head at the end, and also the dress he wore when killed. The famous organ of Tippoo representing a tiger tearing a prostrate British soldier is in the East Indian Museum, together with his suit of chain armour. When the handle of the organ is turned sounds are emitted similar to the shrieks of a human being and the growl of the animal.

A medal was also granted by the Indian Government for the Mysore campaign of 1791-1792, but its issue appears to have been limited to the Company's troops, the above being the first medal authorized to be worn by the Sovereign. Mr. Hudson, whose kindness I have already acknowledged, has a specimen in his valuable collection, and there is also one at the United Service Museum. It is of silver, and on the obverse is represented an English soldier holding the British standard half unfurled, with a distant view of the fortifications of Seringapatam. On the reverse is a Persian inscription, of which the following is a translation :-"Struck in the years 1791-1792," (corresponding with the Mahomedan cra 1202.) "A memento of the self-sacrificing devotion of the servants of the British Government in Mysore."