Fall of the Mughal Empire v4.c56.s19.1

v4.c56.s19.1

After making arrangements for the defence of Delhi and the adjoining district, General Lake left the Mughal capital on 24th September and set out for Agra. That city had been the real capital of Sindhia's north-Indian dominions. In its historic fort were stored vast quantities of munitions, stores, equipment and artillery, besides 22½ lakhs of public money in specie. Its defence had been left to Colonel George Hessing, a Dutch mestiche and Col. Sutherland a Scotsman, both related to Perron by marriage. Their one aim was to save their personal wealth and earn Wellesley’s promised reward by deserting to the English. As Skinner, their late comrade-in-arms, cynically remarks, “Hessing was too rich a man to defend the fort. He soon found means to dissatisfy the garrison.”