Fall of the Mughal Empire v3.c34.s13.4

v3.c34.s13.4

We shall now return to the Maratha division left behind at Rāmghāt. At ten o'clock in the morning of 20th March, the English brigade advancing on Rāmghāt sighted the Marathas and immediately formed line of battle, all the troops priming and loading. At once a large body of Maratha horse hovering on the east bank crossed the Ganges back to Ramghat without a shot having been fired at them. Then some 3,000 of their cavalry appeared on the western bank, at first merely watching the movements of the English. After General Barker had pitched his tent, Visāji fired two 12 pounders across the river and dropped about 30 shots near this tent, killing an old woman and wounding an elephant. Two English guns immediately replied, the very second shot of which "fell among the thick of the enemy, upon which they turned tail in great confusion, and a few more rounds made the whole of them quit the shore.”