The Capture of Gawilghur fort in western

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

British East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

forces under the command of Sir Arthur Wellesley on 15 December 1803 during the

Second Anglo-Maratha War } The Second Anglo-Maratha War (1803–1805) was the second conflict between the British East India Company and the Maratha Empire in India. Background The British had supported the "fugitive" Peshwa Raghunathrao in the First Anglo-Maratha War, ...

was the culminating act in the defeat of the forces of

Raghoji II Bhonsle Raghuji Bhonsale II (died 22 March 1816) or Raghuji II Bhonsale was the Maratha ruler of the Kingdom of Nagpur in Central India from 1788 to 1816. Reign Raghuji was adopted as an infant by his uncle Janoji Bhonsle to be his chosen heir. Janoj ...

, Rajah of

Berar Berar may refer to: *Vidarbha, the eastern region of Maharashtra Province, India, historically known as Berar *Berar Sultanate (1490–1596), one of the Deccan sultanates *Berar Subah (1596–1724), a Subah of the Mughal Empire *Berar Province (1724 ...

Gawilghur Gawilghur (also, Gavalgadh, Gawilgarh or Gawilgad, Pronunciation: �aːʋilɡəɖ was a well-fortified mountain stronghold of the Maratha Empire north of the Deccan Plateau, in the vicinity of Melghat Tiger Reserve, Amravati District, Mahara ...

's garrison of 3000 was commanded by killa-dar Beni Singh, assisted by Manoo Bapu.

Prelude

At the time, Gawilghur was considered unassailable and the defenders believed they could hold the mountain fortress regardless of whatever the British Army threw at it. The defensive works consisted of two fortresses, one outer and one inner. The Outer Fort was considered more of a decoy, and behind that lay a ravine, across which lay the gate to the Inner Fort. An army could theoretically capture the Outer Fort before realizing that the greater task lay in assaulting the inner. The Inner Fort was protected by several gates, the first of which was the least defensible. After breaking through that first gate, however, an assaulting army would turn sharply to the left and follow a narrow passage up to a second gate, all the while being attacked by the defenders from above.

Assault

This was largely the case when Arthur Wellesley's army attacked Gawilghur. Lieutenant Colonel Kenny, of the

11th Regiment of Foot 11 (eleven) is the natural number following 10 and preceding 12. It is the first repdigit. In English, it is the smallest positive integer whose name has three syllables. Name "Eleven" derives from the Old English ', which is first attested i ...

succeeded in taking the Outer Fort, and led the assault on the Inner Fort, supported by

flank companies A ''flank company'' was a former military designation for two elite companies of a regiment. In regimental formation, the grenadier company constituted the right flank of the regiment and the light infantry constituted the left flank, with the other ...

of the

94th Regiment of Foot The 94th Regiment of Foot was a British Army line infantry regiment, raised as the Scotch Brigade in October 1794. It was renumbered as the 94th Regiment of Foot in December 1802 and disbanded in December 1818. The regiment was reformed in Decemb ...

, and

sepoy ''Sepoy'' () was the Persian-derived designation originally given to a professional Indian infantryman, traditionally armed with a musket, in the armies of the Mughal Empire. In the 18th century, the French East India Company and its oth ...

s from Major General James Stevenson's division. At the same time, the 74th and

78th Highlanders The 78th (Highlanders) Regiment of Foot was a Highland Infantry Regiment of the Line, raised in 1793. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with 72nd Regiment, Duke of Albany's Own Highlanders to form the Seaforth Highlanders in 1881. Hi ...

diverted the attention of the defenders by false attacks from the south. After the bombardment commenced on 12 December, the assault on the 14th might have been doomed to failure in the narrow passageways of the Inner Fort had it not been for the bravery of an officer of the 94th. Captain Campbell and his Light Company made a "daring ascent ...on the seemingly impossible southern face." They were then able to open the gates of the inner fort for the main force. The British had 132 casualties, while the Maratha's casualties amounted to 1200, including the deaths of Beni Singh and Manoo Bapu.

Aftermath

When the

Second Anglo-Maratha war } The Second Anglo-Maratha War (1803–1805) was the second conflict between the British East India Company and the Maratha Empire in India. Background The British had supported the "fugitive" Peshwa Raghunathrao in the First Anglo-Maratha War, ...

ended, Gawilghur was returned to the Maratha Empire, although it was never again used as a stronghold.

Popular culture

Lady Elizabeth Longford, in her book ''Wellington, the Years of the Sword'', quotes

Jac Weller John "Jac" Weller (January 6, 1913 – August 18, 1994) was an American college football player, firearms expert and military historian. He was a consensus All-American in 1935 at the guard position. He played for Fritz Crisler's Princeton Tiger ...

whose opinion of Gawilghur was that 'three reasonably effective troops of Boy Scouts armed with rocks could have kept out several times their number of professional soldiers'. The battle of Gawilghur was dramatized in ''

Sharpe's Fortress ''Sharpe's Fortress'' is the third historical novel of the Richard Sharpe series, by Bernard Cornwell, first published in 1998. It is the last of the Sharpe India trilogy. It tells the story of Ensign Sharpe, during the battle of Argaum and th ...

'' by

Bernard Cornwell Bernard Cornwell (born 23 February 1944) is an English-American author of historical novels and a history of the Waterloo Campaign. He is best known for his novels about Napoleonic Wars rifleman Richard Sharpe. He has also written ''The Saxon ...

Notes

References

Bibliography

*{{cite DNB , last=Stephens , first=Henry Morse , wstitle=Campbell, Colin (1776-1847) , volume=8 , pages=350–351 Gawilghur 1803 Gawilghur 1803 Gawilghur 1803 Gawilghur 1803 Conflicts in 1803 History of the Corps of Engineers (Indian Army) History of the Madras Sappers December 1803 events