Siege of Cuddalore
Encyclopedia
The Siege of Cuddalore was a siege attempt by British
troops against a combined French
and Mysorean
garrison in the fortress of Cuddalore
late in the War of American Independence and the Second Anglo-Mysore War
. The siege was ended by the preliminary peace between France and Britain.
arrived outside Cuddalore on 7 June 1783. This army consisted of the 73rd and 78th Highlanders, and the 101st regiment, with a considerable body of Sepoys, and was subsequently reinforced by a detachment of two regiments of hired Hanoverian
(German troops) under Colonel Christoph August von Wagenheim. On the 6th of June, the army took up a position on sandy ground two miles distant from the garrison, with its right on the sea, and the left resting on the Bandipollum hills, having a second line in reserve in the rear. The French and Mysoreans, commanded by Marquis de Bussy-Castelnau
took up an intermediate position, nearly parallel and half a mile (0.8 km) in front of the fort.
, which met the British fleet in naval battle
, and forced it to withdraw to Madras. Suffren with this advantage was able to land 2,400 soldiers, marines and sailors in support of de Bussy's garrison resulting in nearly equal-sized forces.
on the British siege works. Stuart, aware of the newly arrived French reinforcements, prepared for a major attack. On the 25th June the French made repeated sallies on the British lines. After making some progress initially the French were not able to press home their advantage and shortly afterwards Stuart was able to counter-attack and repel the remaining French assaults. De Bussy called off the attack after realising no progress had been made at all and at heavy cost. The assault was a disaster and De Bussy realized he had lost a great opportunity in defeating the besiegers especially with the reinforcements he had received. French morale plummeted as they had lost the advantage in numbers and now realised the balance had swung back in favour of the besieging British. The British had lost no more than 23 men killed and wounded, while De Bussy's attacking force had lost 450 killed and wounded; another 150 were taken prisoner. A number of French officers were captured, including the officer who led the assault, the Chevalier de Dumas, who was captured unwounded. Among the French prisoners was a young sergeant in the French marines who was also wounded and had landed from Suffren's squadron on 20th June; Jean Bernadotte
later became a Marshal of France
and more famously was crowned the King of Sweden.
Cuddalore was returned to Great Britain in exchange for Pondicherry and Mahé, two French territories that Great Britain had captured earlier in the war. Fighting continued between the British and Mysoreans until the Treaty of Mangalore
was signed in March 1784.
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
troops against a combined French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and Mysorean
Kingdom of Mysore
The Kingdom of Mysore was a kingdom of southern India, traditionally believed to have been founded in 1399 in the vicinity of the modern city of Mysore. The kingdom, which was ruled by the Wodeyar family, initially served as a vassal state of the Vijayanagara Empire...
garrison in the fortress of Cuddalore
Cuddalore
Cuddalore is a fast growing industrial city and headquarter of Cuddalore district in the Tamil Nadu state of southern India. Located south of Pondicherry on the coast of Bay of Bengal, Cuddalore has a large number of industries which employ a great deal of the city's population.Cuddalore is known...
late in the War of American Independence and the Second Anglo-Mysore War
Second Anglo-Mysore War
The Second Anglo-Mysore War was a conflict in Mughal India between the Sultanate of Mysore and the British East India Company. At the time, Mysore was a key French ally in India, and the Franco-British conflict raging on account of the American Revolutionary War helped spark Anglo-Mysorean...
. The siege was ended by the preliminary peace between France and Britain.
Commencement of the siege
British troops under the command of James StuartJames Stuart (d. 1793)
Major-General James Stuart was a British Army officer who served in various colonial wars of the 18th century. His service of the British East India Company was marked by his conflict with Lord Pigot, the governor of Madras; Stuart's arrest of the latter in 1776 resulted in his suspension as...
arrived outside Cuddalore on 7 June 1783. This army consisted of the 73rd and 78th Highlanders, and the 101st regiment, with a considerable body of Sepoys, and was subsequently reinforced by a detachment of two regiments of hired Hanoverian
Electorate of Hanover
The Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg was the ninth Electorate of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation...
(German troops) under Colonel Christoph August von Wagenheim. On the 6th of June, the army took up a position on sandy ground two miles distant from the garrison, with its right on the sea, and the left resting on the Bandipollum hills, having a second line in reserve in the rear. The French and Mysoreans, commanded by Marquis de Bussy-Castelnau
Marquis de Bussy-Castelnau
Charles Joseph Patissier, Marquis de Bussy-Castelnau was the Governor General of the French colony of Pondicherry from 1783 to 1785. He servied with distinction under Joseph François Dupleix in the East Indies, receiving the Order of Saint Louis...
took up an intermediate position, nearly parallel and half a mile (0.8 km) in front of the fort.
Attack on the redoubt
On the 13th of June Stuart decided to attack the redoubt in front of the fort in order to press the allies harder within Cuddalore itself and to be more fully prepared for siege operations. The assault took place at four in the morning to gain the element of surprise but attacks and counterattacks by both sides kept on going until five in the evening. Eventually the allies were driven from their principal defences on their right and the last allied counterattack was defeated. By mutual consent a cessation of firing took place as casualties were enormous. The allies had suffered serious losses of nearly 500 casualties men of which they could ill afford, and they lost thirteen of their guns. Stuart's forces too had suffered heavily: over 900 British, Hanoverian and their sepoys were killed or wounded, significantly weakening the force for the siege. However Stuart now in his wanted position made no hesitation in laying siege to Cuddalore proper and in addition prepared for further reinforcements from the sea.Naval battle
Key naval support for the British was interrupted on the 20th by the arrival of a French fleet under the Bailli de SuffrenPierre André de Suffren de Saint Tropez
Admiral comte Pierre André de Suffren de Saint Tropez, bailli de Suffren , French admiral, was the third son of the marquis de Saint Tropez, head of a family of nobles of Provence which claimed to have emigrated from Lucca in the 14th century...
, which met the British fleet in naval battle
Battle of Cuddalore (1783)
The Battle of Cuddalore was a battle between a British fleet under Admiral Sir Edward Hughes and a slightly smaller French fleet under the Bailli de Suffren off the coast of India near Cuddalore during the American Revolutionary War, which in 1780 had sparked the Second Mysore War in India...
, and forced it to withdraw to Madras. Suffren with this advantage was able to land 2,400 soldiers, marines and sailors in support of de Bussy's garrison resulting in nearly equal-sized forces.
Repulse of the French sortie
De Bussy with this additional reinforcements had now enough men to launch a sortieSortie
Sortie is a term for deployment or dispatch of one military unit, be it an aircraft, ship, or troops from a strongpoint. The sortie, whether by one or more aircraft or vessels, usually has a specific mission....
on the British siege works. Stuart, aware of the newly arrived French reinforcements, prepared for a major attack. On the 25th June the French made repeated sallies on the British lines. After making some progress initially the French were not able to press home their advantage and shortly afterwards Stuart was able to counter-attack and repel the remaining French assaults. De Bussy called off the attack after realising no progress had been made at all and at heavy cost. The assault was a disaster and De Bussy realized he had lost a great opportunity in defeating the besiegers especially with the reinforcements he had received. French morale plummeted as they had lost the advantage in numbers and now realised the balance had swung back in favour of the besieging British. The British had lost no more than 23 men killed and wounded, while De Bussy's attacking force had lost 450 killed and wounded; another 150 were taken prisoner. A number of French officers were captured, including the officer who led the assault, the Chevalier de Dumas, who was captured unwounded. Among the French prisoners was a young sergeant in the French marines who was also wounded and had landed from Suffren's squadron on 20th June; Jean Bernadotte
Charles XIV John of Sweden
Charles XIV & III John, also Carl John, Swedish and Norwegian: Karl Johan was King of Sweden and King of Norway from 1818 until his death...
later became a Marshal of France
Marshal of France
The Marshal of France is a military distinction in contemporary France, not a military rank. It is granted to generals for exceptional achievements...
and more famously was crowned the King of Sweden.
End of the siege
The siege continued for another five days but by now both sides were weakening due to disease and growing casualties. Stuart's forces were being taken apart by disease at a higher rate than De Bussy's were. Stuart was also writing vicious letters to the Madras government complaining that he had been abandoned and left to fate. De Bussy though prepared for another attack, this time by a more circuitous route directed at the main camp of the British and Hanoverians. This however never materialized as a British frigate arrived on 30 June with news of a preliminary peace between France and Britain. A cessation of hostilities, complicated by the fact that Mysore and Britain were still at war, was negotiated on 2 July. In the Peace of Paris (1783)Peace of Paris (1783)
The Peace of Paris was the set of treaties which ended the American Revolutionary War. On 3 September 1783, representatives of King George III of Great Britain signed a treaty in Paris with representatives of the United States of America—commonly known as the Treaty of Paris —and two treaties at...
Cuddalore was returned to Great Britain in exchange for Pondicherry and Mahé, two French territories that Great Britain had captured earlier in the war. Fighting continued between the British and Mysoreans until the Treaty of Mangalore
Treaty of Mangalore
The Treaty of Mangalore was signed between Tippu Sultan and the British East India Company on 11 March 1784. It was signed in Mangalore and brought an end to the Second Anglo-Mysore War.-Background:...
was signed in March 1784.