Fall of the Mughal Empire v4.c44.s2.74

v4.c44.s2.74

Sindhia's army consisted of about 25,000 cavalry of his own with two auxiliary but detached bodies of 4,000 and 1,000 horse respectively supplied by Holkar and Ali Bahādur. De Boigne's division was made up of 12 infantry battalions (totalling about 6,500 rank and file), together with 50 pieces of choice artillery. The Jodhpur army was made up of about 26,000 cavalry and a body of irregular infantry not more than ten thousand strong, a few of whom were armed with matchlocks and the bulk with sword and spear only. Their artillery consisted of some 25 antique and almost useless guns. Sindhia's superiority in fire power was made tenfold of this numerical difference by the greater mobility, efficiency and rapidity of his brass guns, light 3 and 6 pounders, which were worked by highly trained Indian gun crews under one European gun-layer for each piece, and supplied with enormous quantities of powder and shot brought into the firing line by well-organized bullock transport. Thus it happened that within an hour of the commencement of the fight, the Jodhpur infantry was broken and driven out of the field, so that the rest of the battle, for two more hours, was a contest between cavalry armed with the sword on one side and disciplined infantry armed with modern flint-locks and bayonets and highly efficient artillery on the other. During this second stage the Marwari guns were silent. The Maratha cavalry made an advance only after the issue had been decided by De Boigne’s infantry and guns and the blown and battered remnant of the Rajput cavalry had fallen back to their own position.