The news that Tippoo had changed his course, to the southeast, was
received with great joy at Arcot. Although confident that this capital
would be able to resist any sudden attack, the belief had been general
that the whole territory would be laid waste, as it had been by Hyder;
and hopes were now entertained that the British army would arrive in
time to bar Tippoo's further progress.
Chapter 8: The Invasion Of Mysore.
For some time, there was a pause in the hostilities. Tippoo remained
with his army near Pondicherry, carrying on negotiations with the
French governor, and arranging for the despatch of an envoy to France,
with a request that the Republic would furnish him with six thousand
French troops. While he was thus wasting his time, General Meadows was
slowly moving, with the army, towards an encampment formed at Vellout,
some eighteen miles west of Madras.
On the 14th of December, a messenger arrived with the news that Lord
Cornwallis had arrived from Calcutta, two days before, with
considerable reinforcements, and that he was about to assume the
supreme command of the army. The news caused unbounded satisfaction.
By the extreme dilatoriness of his movements, and especially by the
manner in which he had allowed Tippoo to pass him near Caveripatam,
when he might easily have attacked him, while his army was still
struggling through the pass, General Meadows had disgusted his troops.
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