Hyder descended through the pass of Changama on the 20th of July, and
his horsemen spread out like a cloud over the country, burning,
devastating, and slaughtering. Hyder moved with the main army slowly,
occupying town after town, and placing garrisons in them.
"You must not suppose that he devastated the whole country. He was too
wise for that. He anticipated reigning over it as its sovereign, and
had no wish to injure its prosperity. It was only over tracts where he
considered that devastation would hamper the movements of an English
army, that everything was laid waste.
"On the 21st of August he invested Arcot, and a week later, hearing
that the British army had moved out from Madras, he broke up the siege
and advanced to meet them. Sir Hector Munro, the British general, was
no doubt brave, but he committed a terrible blunder. Instead of
marching to combine his force with that of Colonel Baillie, who was
coming down from Guntoor, he marched in the opposite direction to
Conjeveram, sending word to Colonel Baillie to follow him. Baillie's
force amounted to over two thousand eight hundred men, Munro's to five
thousand two hundred. Had they united, the force would have exceeded
eight thousand, and could have given battle to Hyder's immense army
with fair hope of success.
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