A History of the Mahrattas v2.c37.51

v2.c37.51

the Rana marched against Lahar, a fortified place fifty miles west of Kalpee, in possession of the Mahrattas. Having summoned the fort, which refused to surrender, he was obliged to commence an attack, although he found it much stronger than had been represented, and that battering guns were necessary to ensure its capture. But the determined bravery of the troops overcame every difficulty; long before the breach was, in the ordinary sense of the word, practicable, Captain Popham, foreseeing that field-pieces might never effect the purpose, determined to storm. Lieutenant Logan and Cornet Gardiner led on the advance; both fell in the breach; but Mr. O’Dell, a volunteer, rushed forward to supply their place, mounted the works, gallantly followed by the party, and, after a persevering assault, the place was carried, although with the heavy loss of one hundred and twenty-five men of the storming party. This success was entirely unexpected by Sir Eyre Coote, who, on hearing of the attack without battering cannon, only anticipated disaster; and in consequence of his representations, another detachment of four regular battalions, with a battering train, was held in readiness to cross the Jumna, under Major Jacob Camac. But if the successful assault of Lahar was unexpected, the capture of the strong hill-fort of Gwalior, without the loss of a man, excited the utmost admiration. Captain Popham, after his return from Lahar, was encamped during the rains within five *kos* of the celebrated fortress of Gwalior, expecting to be relieved as soon as the season permitted. Gwalior was in possession of Mahadajee Sindia, and in Hindoostan, where the stupendous fastnesses of the west of India were little known, it was accounted one of the strongest forts in Asia.