Fall of the Mughal Empire v4.c56.s23.8

v4.c56.s23.8

Lake had failed to break the enemy and had been forced to retire. But the Marathas had no cause for triumph either. Their boasted artillery had failed to stop the British cavalry, which had pierced their line and retired at pleasure. The campoo infantry knew only how to fight on the defensive, and could not utilise the four hours’ lull in the battle before the arrival of the British infantry and guns, by making a counter-charge and hurling Lake’s cavalry back into destruction in the river. Evidently they had lost the skill and their leaders the spirit taught by De Boigne a decade earlier.