Battle Of Delhi, 1803

The Battle of Delhi or Battle of Patparganj took place on 11 September 1803 during the Second Anglo-Maratha War, between British East India Company troops of the Bombay Army under General Lake, and the Marathas of Scindia's army under General Louis Bourquin and Sardar Ravsaheb Wable.

Background

Expecting forthcoming conflict with the Marathas, two Company armies began drilling for war. While Major General Wellesley prepared his forces in the newly conquered Seringapatnam, General Lake drilled his men in the north, close to the Maratha border.

When war broke out on the 1st of August, Governor general Lord Wellesley ordered two main thrusts into maratha territory; one by Lake to take Delhi, and one by Arthur Wellesley to secure the Deccan region, accompanied by minor offensives on the coasts of Gujarat and Orissa.

Lake left Kanpur on the 7th of August with an army of 10,000 men, accompanied by a cavalry division with Galloper guns. Lake's army proceeded to advance on the Maratha fortress of Aligarh on the 29th of August, with General Perron fleeing to Delhi to gather reinforcements, and eventually surrendering to Lake on the 1st of September.

Events

With Perron's surrender, Lieutenant Colonel Louis Bourquin took control at Delhi. Upon receiving news that Lake planned on advancing on Delhi as soon as possible, Bourquin crossed the Yamuna with 19,000 troops, and prepared an ambush on the Hindon river.

Bourquin chose a low hill overlooking a road flanked by two swampy lakes in order to funnel any enemy force into a bottleneck. He hid 100 heavy guns behind the elephant grass at the base of the hill, and awaited the enemy.

On the 11th of September, Lake ordered his men to camp for breakfast on the banks of the Hindon, after rapidly marching eighteen miles to Delhi. Very soon after the army had camped, Bourquin ordered the heavy artilery at the base of the hill to open fire. While the British army retreated in confusion, the Marathas failed to take advantage of the oppurtunity, and held position, giving Lake time to organize his men.

To lure Borquin away from his position, Lake ordered a feint, making the infantry fall back while executing a pincer movement with his cavalry, hidden in the grass. When the Marathas took the bait and abandoned their defensive positions, the Company infantry turned and charged with bayonets, supported by the galloper guns. Quartermaster John Pester, who was severely wounded by the initial maratha bombardment, wrote:

"We drove them into the Yamuna, and hundreds of them were destroyed in endeavouring to cross it."

On the night of the 11th, five French commanders surrendered to Lake, ending the battle.

Aftermath

The battle of Delhi would be the last time British and French officers would clash in South Asia. Following Arthur Wellesley's victory at Assaye on the 23rd of September, Maratha power in India began to gradually decline, until they were finally defeated by the Company in the Third Anglo-Maratha War.

After the battle, Lake went to capture Agra Fort, leaving David Ochterlony in charge of the city. Octerlony quickly set up an administration consisting of Company civil servants and old Mughal court officers to manage the city, and reduced the Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II as a mere figurehead.

A monument was later erected at the site in Patparganj, marked out by a surrounding ditch, commemorating Cornet Sanguine and the Company army soldiers who fell during the battle.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Delhi, Battle of 1803
Conflicts in 1803
Battles involving the Maratha Empire
Battles of the Second Anglo-Maratha War
1803 in India
Battle
Battles involving the British East India Company
Military history of Delhi
September 1803