The Sun.
London, England, 1852-11-18 00:00:00

HIS ORIENTAL VICTORIES.

Here, in earnest, may be said to have commenced that
career of glory which carried the triumphs of the great
Captain from the plains of Assaye to the heights of
Waterloo, witnessing at their opening the defeat of Tip-
poo, and at their close the downfall of Napoleon. At
the period of Colonel Wellesley's arrival in India, the
Governor-General was Sir John Shore, afterwards
Lord Teignmouth. A letter of introduction to his Ex-
cellency, given to the young officer before his departure
from England by the Marquis of Cornwallis—bearing
date, " Whitehall, June 10, 1796"—was couched as
follows :

" Dear Sir,—l beg leaie to introduce to you Colonel
Wesley, who is Lieutenant-Colonel of my regiment.
He is a sensible man, and a good officer, and will,
have no doubt, conduct himself in a manner to merit
your tion.
Words of singulaiiy cautious praise, as applied to a sol-
dier destined so soon afterwards to render himself illus-
trious by his achievements. Sir John Shore does not
seem, however, to have been undiscerning, even from
the first, in regard to the object of this introduction.
Indeed, the present Lord Teignmouth has related that
upon the occasion of the very first interview between
our hero and the Governor-General at a levee, Sir John
turned quickly round to his Aides-de-camp, as Colonel
Wesley retired, remarking—"lfthat officer should ever
have an opportunity of distinguishing himself, he will
do it, and greatly.
About this critical juncture in his career, Arthur
Wellesley is said to have been remarkable for his com-
bination of good sense and boyish playfuhiess. For-
tunately for hiM, he had scarcely set foot in Calcutta
when a new Governor-General was appointed in the
person of his brother, afterwards Marquis of Wellesley,
but then Earl of Mornington. He had therefore only to
display merit to have that merit at once recognized.
And yet more fortunately for him, though terribly for
England, as involving it' in a desperate but happily
triumphant struggle, the opportunity for distinction
arose in the war which speedily broke out against the
son of Hyder Ali, the terrible and redoubtable Tippoo
Sahib or Saltaun. Against the gigantic armies of the
dreaded Tiger of Mysore, the British Commander-in-
Chief, General (afterwards Lord) Harris, was only en-
abled to advance forces of great numerical inferiority—
forces, however, which comprised 10,000 from Bombay,
30,000 from the Carnatic, and another division, placed
entirely under the command of Colonel Wellesley, a di-
vision consisting of his own corps united with the con-
tingent of our ally the Nizam of the Deccan. Before the
close of February, 1799, the British forces had crossed
the boundaries of Mysore, and, after worsting Tippoo,
successively at Cannanore and Malavelly, arrived in full
strength by the 4th of April before the battlements of
Seringapatam. It was during the night of the sth that
Colonel Wellesley—entrusted by the Commander-in-
Chief with the duty of occupying, if possible, an impor-
tant position immediately under the walls of the fortress,
called the Sultaunpettah tope, or grove of betel
pushedth
emo ne
s
trees—
failed, underer such peculiar circumstances, in the intended
enterprize. Accompanied, after nightfall, by Captain
tsh theu us
ulight r
tceodmupuadneyr ofa
heavy fire from the enemies batteries, the assailants were
the Mackenzie,33d, when,he had
finding
compelled to retreat in the darkness, and that, moreover,
with the utmost expedition. Colonel Wellesley imme-
diately after this untoward but unavoidable movement,
hastened to the tent of General Harris, but finding that