Battle of Assaye, Second Maratha War, 1803
Captain Hugh Mackay, 4th Madras Cavalry
Lairg Cemetery, Sutherland
Indian historians tend to refer to it as the Maratha Empire, while the British use the terms Maratha Confederacy or Maratha States, which shows the inadequacy of single words when it comes to defining complex situations. Was it an Empire? Well, it ruled a huge area and it had an overall ruler. Was it a confederacy of states? It certainly was comprised of a number of quasi-independent princedoms, jostling for power and control, and often ignoring the ruler and his prime minister, the Peshwa. What it did do, in whatever guise, was control a huge swathe of central and northern India, from south of Mumbai to north of Delhi, and east towards Calcutta. As such it was an enormous hindrance to the expansionist plans of the East India Company, which was why the deposing of the Peshwa Baji Rao II and his expulsion from his base in Pune, south-east of Bombay (Mumbai), presented a marvellous opening.
Baji Rao II had been deposed as a part of a power struggle between other leading players in the Empire/ Confederacy, the rulers of Gwalior and Nagpur being foremost. Not strong enough to resist he turned to the East India Company for assistance, promising them unprecedented influence and market access if they would support him against his opponents. Too good an opportunity to miss, and so the Company launched two armies into the field. In the north General Gerard Lake moved out from his base in Cawnpore to challenge the armies of Gwalior and its allies. In the south General Arthur Wellesley, much better known now as the Duke of Wellington, moved to restore Pune to the deposed Peshwa.
Pune was taken with ease, Baji Rao restored to his position, and Wellesley set off north to pursue the armies of Daulat Scindia of Gwalior and Raghuji Bhonsale of Nagpur.
It is now that Captain Hugh Mackay enters the story. He was a younger son of the Reverend Thomas Mackay, the Minister of Lairgs in Sutherland, in the Highlands of Scotland. Like many others in these tales, this younger son of the clergy, son of a father who presumably preached love and peace every Sunday, joined the army, and in 1803 had reached the rank of Captain in the 4th Madras Cavalry. He must have gained a good reputation, for it was to him that Wellesley turned when appointing someone to organise the baggage and supply trains he would need for the campaign. Wellesley knew that if he was to succeed in a campaign of indefinite pursuit his supply train had to be as good as it could be, and it was Mackay in whom he placed his trust.
Thus it was that when Wellesley arrived at the village of Assaye, to find the combined forces of Scindia and Nagpur embedded in the village and surrounding fields, Mackay and the supply train were there. A problem for Wellesley was that a few days before he had split his forces, with General Stevenson pursuing the enemy from a different angle. The idea was that they would combine before any action, but Wellesley had encountered the enemy first, without Stevenson's men. The Marathas had fifty thousand men, including ten thousand European-trained, supported by one hundred cannons. Wellesley had nine thousand men and seventeen cannons.
Wellesley's plans to wipe out the enemy guns failed, and he found himself with his infantry blasted by cannon fire, then facing slaughter as the enemy cavalry prepared to charge. Seeing only one alternative to oblivion Wellesley ordered the 78th Highlanders to attack the guns while his reserve cavalry, the 4th Madras, Mackay's regiment, attacked from the other direction. Hearing of the order Mackay sent a message requesting that he be allowed to return to his regiment for the fight. His request was refused. Mackay then offered to resign, thus freeing him to fight. His resignation was refused, but Mackay disobeyed orders and rejoined his regiment anyway. They charged.
The Maratha cavalry were in front of the guns, so initially it was horsemen versus horsemen. Superior training told, and the Maratha cavalry were driven away, leaving the Company forces to charge the guns. it was in this stage of the battle that Mackay was killed, riddled with grapeshot from the firing cannon, but the charge he was in the vanguard of succeeded. With cavalry and the surviving Highlanders in amongst them the Maratha guns were silenced, and Wellesley's forces went on to claim victory, albeit at a huge cost, his army so reduced that any notion of chasing the fleeing enemy was abandoned.
They were to catch up with them eventually, however, and defeat them comprehensively at the battles of Argaon and Gawilghur . With Lake also successful in the north, taking Delhi and Agra, and winning a decisive victory at Laswari, the Company were able to demand terms from their opponents that would essentially secure Company, and therefore, British, influence over Maratha territory. In essence Britain now controlled India.
Wellesley went on to his well-known greatness. Lake, a drinker and a gambler, was to die penniless only a few years later, leading to Parliament granting his unmarried daughters a pension, and thus an income. Hugh Mackay was buried on the battlefield, never to see Lairgs again.
Baji Rao II had been deposed as a part of a power struggle between other leading players in the Empire/ Confederacy, the rulers of Gwalior and Nagpur being foremost. Not strong enough to resist he turned to the East India Company for assistance, promising them unprecedented influence and market access if they would support him against his opponents. Too good an opportunity to miss, and so the Company launched two armies into the field. In the north General Gerard Lake moved out from his base in Cawnpore to challenge the armies of Gwalior and its allies. In the south General Arthur Wellesley, much better known now as the Duke of Wellington, moved to restore Pune to the deposed Peshwa.
Pune was taken with ease, Baji Rao restored to his position, and Wellesley set off north to pursue the armies of Daulat Scindia of Gwalior and Raghuji Bhonsale of Nagpur.
It is now that Captain Hugh Mackay enters the story. He was a younger son of the Reverend Thomas Mackay, the Minister of Lairgs in Sutherland, in the Highlands of Scotland. Like many others in these tales, this younger son of the clergy, son of a father who presumably preached love and peace every Sunday, joined the army, and in 1803 had reached the rank of Captain in the 4th Madras Cavalry. He must have gained a good reputation, for it was to him that Wellesley turned when appointing someone to organise the baggage and supply trains he would need for the campaign. Wellesley knew that if he was to succeed in a campaign of indefinite pursuit his supply train had to be as good as it could be, and it was Mackay in whom he placed his trust.
Thus it was that when Wellesley arrived at the village of Assaye, to find the combined forces of Scindia and Nagpur embedded in the village and surrounding fields, Mackay and the supply train were there. A problem for Wellesley was that a few days before he had split his forces, with General Stevenson pursuing the enemy from a different angle. The idea was that they would combine before any action, but Wellesley had encountered the enemy first, without Stevenson's men. The Marathas had fifty thousand men, including ten thousand European-trained, supported by one hundred cannons. Wellesley had nine thousand men and seventeen cannons.
Wellesley's plans to wipe out the enemy guns failed, and he found himself with his infantry blasted by cannon fire, then facing slaughter as the enemy cavalry prepared to charge. Seeing only one alternative to oblivion Wellesley ordered the 78th Highlanders to attack the guns while his reserve cavalry, the 4th Madras, Mackay's regiment, attacked from the other direction. Hearing of the order Mackay sent a message requesting that he be allowed to return to his regiment for the fight. His request was refused. Mackay then offered to resign, thus freeing him to fight. His resignation was refused, but Mackay disobeyed orders and rejoined his regiment anyway. They charged.
The Maratha cavalry were in front of the guns, so initially it was horsemen versus horsemen. Superior training told, and the Maratha cavalry were driven away, leaving the Company forces to charge the guns. it was in this stage of the battle that Mackay was killed, riddled with grapeshot from the firing cannon, but the charge he was in the vanguard of succeeded. With cavalry and the surviving Highlanders in amongst them the Maratha guns were silenced, and Wellesley's forces went on to claim victory, albeit at a huge cost, his army so reduced that any notion of chasing the fleeing enemy was abandoned.
They were to catch up with them eventually, however, and defeat them comprehensively at the battles of Argaon and Gawilghur . With Lake also successful in the north, taking Delhi and Agra, and winning a decisive victory at Laswari, the Company were able to demand terms from their opponents that would essentially secure Company, and therefore, British, influence over Maratha territory. In essence Britain now controlled India.
Wellesley went on to his well-known greatness. Lake, a drinker and a gambler, was to die penniless only a few years later, leading to Parliament granting his unmarried daughters a pension, and thus an income. Hugh Mackay was buried on the battlefield, never to see Lairgs again.
Hugh Mackay (2nd son of Rev. T. Mackay) Captain 4th Regiment Madras Cavalry, Commissary Army Staff, born 1763, served his country 24 years, died 23 Sept 1803 at muzzle of enemies guns battle of Assaye fought between Wellesly and the Mahrattas.
Sources
Picture
The battlefield of Assaye today - Aditya Rao, from 'Assaye - Forgotten Battleground' on the website The Gab Bar
Military and Genealogy
http://glosters.tripod.com/earlyindia1.htm
www.armoury.co.uk
The Book of Mackay - Angus Mackay, Norman Macleod, Edinburgh, 1906
© Jonathan Dewhirst 2017
Picture
The battlefield of Assaye today - Aditya Rao, from 'Assaye - Forgotten Battleground' on the website The Gab Bar
Military and Genealogy
http://glosters.tripod.com/earlyindia1.htm
www.armoury.co.uk
The Book of Mackay - Angus Mackay, Norman Macleod, Edinburgh, 1906
© Jonathan Dewhirst 2017
