Fall of the Mughal Empire v4.c51.s7.15

v4.c51.s7.15

In the last decade of the 18th century the fire-power of the campoo was greatly increased by the constant drilling of the sepoys by De Boigne and his European officers and the use of brass screw-guns, devised and cast by European engineers, which excited the admiration of Wellington. That general wrote after his victory at Assaye, “We have got more than 90 guns, seventy of which are the finest brass ordnance I have ever seen.” The ordnance captured from Sindhia’s northern army after the battle of Delhi (11 Sep. 1803) are thus described—“The iron guns are of European manufacture; the brass guns, mortars and howitzers have been cast in India (at Mathurā, Ujjain, &c.), but the whole are evidently from the design and execution of an European artist. The workmanship is of as high a finish as any in the (E.I.) Company’s arsenal. . . . The whole of the pieces are furnished with well-made elevating screws; some are of the latest French improvement. . . . The (gun-) carriages are strong and good; some are neatly made according to the French pattern." (Wellington's *Suppl. Despatches*, iv. 180; *Wellesley Despatches*, iii. 668.)