Fall of the Mughal Empire v4.c54.s4.5

v4.c54.s4.5

For the protection of his agents in Malwa from Holkar's myriads of predatory horse, stiffened by European-led infantry and Mir Khan's doughty Pathan mercenaries, Daulat Rao adopted the incredibly foolish policy of sending up reinforcements from the south in driblets at such intervals that co-operation or junction among them was impossible. On 2nd May 1801 from Burhānpur he had detached George Hessing with five battalions, and this force had reached Ujjain in safety about the 28th of that month. "A few days later Sindhia detached Lieut. MacIntyre with the fourth battalion from Hessing's brigade and a second from Filoze's, to follow and support the advanced column. Three days later he detached two of Sutherland's battalions from the First Brigade, under Capt. Gautier, to further strengthen Hessing, and finally crowned his imbecility by closing up the rear, after another interval, with two more of Sutherland's battalions and a park of artillery under Captain Brownrigg. There was thus an *echelle* of small isolated detachments with twenty, thirty, and forty miles between each, marching against an enemy whose entire strength was concentrated on the objective point." (H. Compton, 254.)