A History of the Mahrattas v2.c59.25

v2.c59.25

In regard to insurrection, vigilance was enjoined and strictly maintained by a system of private intelligence which the Mahrattas consider necessary to good government, and which the state of the country as well as the usage of the people rendered necessary; armed men travelling without passports were required to deposit their weapons; and the hoarded resources of the late government were seized wherever found; but as it was was commanded by an adjoining hill, from which a brisk fire soon drove the besieged from the gate, to seek shelter behind some stone houses in the fort; upon which Captain Spiller suggested the possibility of blowing a hole in the gate with musquetry. This strange breach was effected under a heavy fire from his companions, which prevented the besieged from suspecting what was going forward at the gate. Captain Spiller went in first, but a grenadier Sepoy who attempted to follow could not get through owing to his cartridge box; Captain Spiller was therefore obliged to return until he had made the entrance sufficiently large, by which time he was joined by Colonel Cunningham and Assistant-Surgeon Radford, when they got in, one by one, concealing themselves in the gateway until their party had entered. They then rushed upon the garrison, completely surprised them, and carried the place without the loss of a man.