Fall of the Mughal Empire v4.c56.s24.11

v4.c56.s24.11

The hand to hand struggle between infantry on both sides, in and around the village of Mālpur raged with fury till 4 o’clock in the evening, by which time all the Maratha guns had been taken and their right wing and centre destroyed. Their left wing, still keeping the disciplined formation, tried to retreat in good order. But a new danger now beset them. The 29th Dragoons swung round from the pursuit of Gulāb Rai to the rear or north-western end of the village of Mālpur and closed that route of escape. The two other brigades of Lake’s cavalry, kept in reserve during the afternoon’s fighting, were now let loose upon the Sindhian infantry from the east and the north. Thus enveloped on all sides, the unbroken remnant of the campoo was huddled together beyond the north end of the village of Mālpur and forced to surrender.* General Lake mercifully released all the common sepoys (about 2,000) and detained only their officers, forty-eight in number, as prisoners.