Battle of Arakere

Battle of Arakere
Part of Third Anglo-Mysore War
Date 13 May 1791;234 years ago (1791-05-13) [1] Location Arakere [1] Result British victory [1] [2]
Belligerents
Kingdom of Mysore	East India Company
Commanders and leaders
Tipu Sultan	Charles Cornwallis

The Battle of Arakere was fought near the Mysorean capital city of Seringapatam on 15 May 1791 during the Third Anglo-Mysore War. An army under Charles Cornwallis consisting of East India Company and British Army forces, along with allied forces from the Nizam of Hyderabad, arrived near Seringapatam, and sought a crossing of the Kaveri River near the village of Arakere where Tipu Sultan, Mysore's ruler, had established a defensive line. On 13 May, near Arakere, about 10 miles (16 km) below Seringapatam, Tipu decided to offer battle from a position on nearby heights. In the ensuing battle, complicated by the rains, Cornwallis prevailed, routing Tipu's forces, which retreated into Seringapatam.

Following the battle, Cornwallis made the difficult decision to retreat, as the army's supply situation had become so desperate that a siege would have been impossible, even if he could have joined with Robert Abercromby's troops. A hoped-for junction with Marathan troops also seemed unlikely, as Tipu had successfully prevented communication and intelligence of their position from reaching Cornwallis, and the most recent reports placed them some distance off. After ordering Abercromby to retreat on 21 May, Cornwallis ordered his siege train destroyed and began to retreat toward Bangalore on 26 May.

That very day, he was met by an advance company of the Marathan army. The next day that army, totalling some 40,000 cavalry, joined with his. The Marathan army was well-provisioned, so they were able to relieve some of the British army's stresses, although the prices they charged for their provisions were exorbitant. The combined army reached Bangalore on 11 July. Tipu took advantage of the retreat to make a concerted attack on Coimbatore, which fell after a lengthy siege in November. ^{[1] [3]}

References

1. Naravane, M.S. (2014). Battles of the Honourable East India Company. A.P.H. Publishing Corporation. pp. 172–181. ISBN   9788131300343.
2. Wickwire, Franklin & Mary (1980), Cornwallis: The Imperial Years, Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, ISBN   0-8078-1387-7
3. Wickwire, Franklin & Mary (1980), Cornwallis: The Imperial Years, Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, ISBN   0-8078-1387-7

• History of the Madras Army, Volume 2
• Fortescue, John William (1902). A history of the British army, Volume 3. Macmillan.
• Marshman, John Clark (1863). The history of India