First Anglo-Mysore War - Course of The War

Course of The War

The war began in January 1767 when the Marathas, possibly anticipating movements by the nizam, invaded northern Mysore. They reached as far south as the Tunghabadhra River, before Hyder entered into negotiations to end the invasion. In exchange for payments of 30 lahks rupees the Marathas agreed to withdraw north of the Kistna River; by March, when the nizam began his invasion, they had already withdrawn. According to Mysore historian Mark Wilks, this action by the Marathas was a somewhat typical move to acquire wealth that might otherwise be claimed by other belligerents. The nizam advanced as far as Bangalore, accompanied by two battalions of company troops under Colonel Joseph Smith.

In May, Smith discovered that the Hyder and the nizam were negotiating an alliance, and consequently withdrew most of his troops to the Carnatic frontier. The deal struck between the two powers called for them to join against the British. Hyder was to pay 18 lahks rupees for the invasion to end, and the nizam was to recognize Hyder's son Tipu Sultan as Nawab of the Carnatic once that territory was conquered. Despite the agreement the two sides exhibited little trust for one another; Hyder was known to place spies in the nizam's camp.

This diplomatic maneouvring resulted in an attack against a company outpost at Changama by the combined Mysore-Hyderabad army under Hyder's command. Despite significantly outnumbering the British force (British estimates place the allied army size at 70,000 to the British 7,000), the allies were repulsed with heavy losses. Hyder moved on to capture Kaveripattinam after two days of siege, while Colonel Smith, who commanded at Changama, eventually retreated to Tiruvannamalai for supplies and reinforcements. There Hyder again attacked, and was decisively repulsed on 26 September 1767. With the onset of the monsoon season, Hyder opted to continue campaigning rather than adopting the usual practice of suspending operations because of the difficult conditions the weather created for armies. After overrunning a few lesser outposts, he besieged Ambur in November 1767, forcing the British to resume campaigning. The British garrison commander refused large bribes offered by Hyder in exchange for surrender, and the arrival of a relief column in early December forced Hyder to lift the siege. He retreated northward, covering the movements of the nizam's forces, but was disheartened when an entire corps of European cavalry deserted to the British. The failures of this campaign, combined with successful British advances in the Northern Circars and secret negotiations between the British and the nizam, led to a split between Hyder and the nizam. The latter withdrew back to Hyderabad and eventually negotiated a new treaty with the British company in 1768. Hyder, apparently seeking an end to the conflict, made peace overtures to the British, but was rebuffed.

In early 1768, company authorities in Bombay organized an expedition to Mysore's Malabar coast territories. Hyder had established a small fleet, based primarily in the port of Mangalore, in the mid-1760s. This fleet, which the British reported as numbering about ten ships, deserted en masse, apparently because the captains were unhappy with Lutf Ali Beg, a Mysorean cavalry officer, as fleet commander. Owing to a British deception, Lutf Ali Beg also withdrew much of the Mangalore garrison to move on what he perceived to be the British target, Onore. The British consequently occupied Mangalore against minimal opposition in February. This activity, combined with the loss of the nizam as an ally, prompted Hyder to withdraw from the Carnatic, and move with speed to the Malabar. Dispatching his son Tipu with an advance force, Hyder followed, and eventually retook Mangalore and the other ports held by the over-extended British forces. He also levied additional taxes as punishment against rebellious Nair districts that had supported the British.

During Hyder's absence from the Carnatic, the British recovered many places that Hyder had taken and only weakly garrisoned, and advanced as far south as Dindigul. They also convinced the Marathas to enter the conflict, and a large force of theirs, under the command of Morari Rao, joined with Colonel Smith at Ooscota in early August 1768. This army then began preparations to besiege Bangalore, but Hyder returned to Bangalore from the Malabar on August 9, in time to harass the allies before the siege could begin. On August 22 Hyder attacked the Maratha camp at Ooscota, but was repulsed with heavy losses. Hyder was then foiled in an attempt to prevent the arrival of a second British column at the allied camp; the strength of these combined forces convinced him to retreat from Bangalore toward Gurramkonda, where he was reinforced by his brother in law. He also attempted diplomatic measures to prevent a siege of Bangalore, offering to pay ten lahks rupees and grant other land concessions in exchange for peace. The British countered with an aggressive list of demands that included payments of tribute to the nizam and larger land concessions to the British East India Company. Hyder specifically refused to deal with Muhammed Ali Khan Wallajah, whose lands were where much of the fighting had taken place, and a man Hyder intensely disliked. The negotiations failed to reach common ground.

On October 3, Hyder, while moving his army from Guuramkonda back toward Bangalore, surprised a small garrison of Muhammed Ali Khan Wallajah's men at a rock fort called Mulwagal, near Ooscota. British reinforcements were sent, and Colonel Wood was able to recover the lower fort but not the upper. The next day he went out with a few companies of men to investigate movements that might have been cover for enemy reinforcements. This small force, numbering four companies, was surrounded by Hyder's entire army. A stratagem by another officer, Colonel Brooks, prevented the loss of this detachment; Colonel Brooks and another two companies dragged two cannons to the top of a nearby rise, and Brooks called out "Smith! Smith!" while firing the cannons. Both sides interpreted this to mean that Colonel Smith was arriving in force, and Hyder's troops began to retreat. This enabled Colonel Wood to join with Brooks and other reinforcements from Mulwagal before Hyder realized he had been fooled. Hyder renewed his attack, but was eventually repulsed with heavy losses: he was estimated to lose 1,000 men while the British lost about 200. The severity of the conflict convinced Colonel Smith that he would be unable to effectively besiege Bangalore without first inflicting a major defeat on Hyder in open battle. Company officials blamed Smith for the failure to decisively defeat Hyder, and recalled him to Madras. Hyder took the opportunity to besiege Hosur, and Colonel Wood marched in relief of the town. As Wood approached, Hyder raised the siege, sneaked around Wood's column, and attacked his baggage train near Bagalur. Hyder successfully captured supplies and arms, and drove Wood in disgrace toward Venkatagiri. Wood was consequently recalled and replaced by Colonel Lang.

Hyder then raised additional forces in Mysore and went on the offensive. In November 1768 he split his army into two, and crossed the ghats into the Carnatic, regaining control of many minor posts held by the British. En route to Erode Hyder overwhelmed one contingent of British, who were sent as prisoners to Seringapatam when it was established that one of its officers was fighting in violation of a parole agreement. After rapidly establishing control over much of the southern Carnatic, his march turned toward Madras. This prompted the British to send an envoy to discuss peace; because of Hyder's insistence that the nawab of the Carnatic be excluded from the negotiations, they went nowhere. Hyder then surprised company authorities by taking a picked force of 6,000 cavalry and a small number of infantry, and made a three day forced march of 130 miles (210 km) to the gates of Madras.

This show of force compelled the company to negotiate further, since Madras had been left nearly defenseless by military movements made to counter those of Hyder's main force. Hyder, who was seeking diplomatic leverage against the Marathas, wanted an alliance of mutual defense and offense. The company refused to accede to an offensive military treaty; the treaty signed at Madras on March 29, 1769 had terms that each would support the other if attacked.