It
was hot work, I can tell you. The enemy's guns swept the road, and
their musketry kept up an incessant roar. Many fell, but we kept on
until close to the gate, and then the white troops opened fire upon
Hyder's men on the walls, so as to cover the sappers, who were fixing
the powder bags.
"They soon ran back to us. There was a great explosion, and the gates
fell. With loud shouts we rushed forward into the fort; and close
behind us came the Sepoys, led by Captain Davis.
"It took some sharp fighting before we overcame the resistance of the
garrison, who fought desperately, knowing well enough that, after the
massacre of Baillie's force, little quarter would be given them. The
British loss was considerable, and twenty of my father's little
company were among the killed. Great stores of provisions were found
here, and proved most useful to the army.
"The news, of the capture of Carangooly, so alarmed the besiegers of
Wandiwash that they at once raised the siege, and retreated; and, on
the following day, Sir Eyre Coote and his force arrived there. It was
a curious thing that, on the same day of the same month, Sir Eyre
Coote had, twenty-one years before, raised the siege of Wandiwash by a
victory over the army that was covering the operation.
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