Fall of the Mughal Empire v4.c56.s13.27

v4.c56.s13.27

Perron had early notice of Lake’s march upon Aligarh, but he never thought of offering the best possible defence there. On the contrary he detached two of his best brigades to Delhi and seven battalions of another to Agra, thus denuding the Doab frontier of troops. Only two thousand sepoys of a miscellaneous character, militiamen rather than regular soldiers, were left to garrison the vitally important depot of Aligarh. Skinner noticed with grief how Sindhia’s cause was ruined by Perron and other French officers, whose sole aim was to ensure their safe retirement to the British dominions with their personal wealth by throwing their deluded troops into helpless destruction.