Siege of Seringapatam ( 1799 ) The Siege of Seringapatam ( 5 April – 4 May 1799 ) was the final confrontation of the Fourth Anglo - Mysore War between the British East India Company and the Kingdom of Mysore . The British achieved a decisive victory after breaching the walls of the fortress at Seringapatam and storming the citadel . Tipu Sultan , Mysore ' s ruler , was killed in the action . The British restored the Wodeyar dynasty to the throne after the victory , but retained indirect control of the kingdom . Opposing forces . The battle consisted of a series of encounters around Seringapatam ( the anglicized version of Srirangapatna m ) in the months of April and May 1799 , between the combined forces of the British East India Company and their allies , numbering over 50 , 000 soldiers in all , and the soldiers of the Kingdom of Mysore , ruled by Tipu Sultan , numbering up to 30 , 000 . The Fourth Anglo - Mysore War came to an end with the defeat and death of Tipu Sultan in the battle . British troop composition . When the Fourth Anglo - Mysore War broke out , the British assembled two large columns under General George Harris . The first consisted of over 26 , 000 British East India Company troops , 4 , 000 of whom were European while the rest were local Indian sepoys . The second column was supplied by the Nizam of Hyderabad , and consisted of ten battalions and over 16 , 000 cavalry . Together , the allied force numbered over 50 , 000 soldiers . Tipu ' s forces had been depleted by the Third Anglo - Mysore War and the consequent loss of half his kingdom , but he still probably had up to 30 , 000 soldiers . The British forces consisted of the following : The Indian ( sepoy ) forces consisted of the following : Siege . Seringapatam was besieged by the British forces on 5 April 1799 . The River Cauvery , which flowed around the city of Seringapatam , was at its lowest level of the year and could be forded by infantry — if an assault commenced before the monsoon . When letters were exchanged with Tippu , it seemed that he was playing for time . He requested two persons to be sent to him for discussions and also stated that he was preoccupied with hunting expeditions . Tippu Sultan ' s prime minister and general , Mir Sadiq , is alleged to have been bought over by the British . The breach . The Governor - General of India , Richard Wellesley , planned the opening of a breach in the walls of Seringapatam . The location of the breach , as noted by Beatson , the author of an account of the Fourth Mysore War , was ' in the west curtain , a little to the right of the flank of the north - west bastion . This being the old rampart appeared weaker than the new . ' The Mysorean defence succeeded in preventing the establishment of a battery on the north side of the River Cauvery on 22 April 1799 . However , by 1 May , working at night , the British had completed their southern batteries and brought them up to the wall . At sunrise on 2 May , the batteries of the Nizam of Hyderabad succeeded in opening a practical breach in the outer wall . In addition , the mines that were laid under the breach were hit by artillery and blew up prematurely . The leader of the British troops was Major General David Baird , an implacable enemy of Tippu Sultan : twenty years earlier , he had been held captive for 44 months . The storming troops , including men of the 73rd and 74th regiments , clambered up the breach and fought their way along the ramparts . After the company troops had taken the city , Tippu ' s body was found among the dead , shot in the head and stripped of his jewels . Storming of Seringapatam . The assault was to begin at 1 : 00 p . m . to coincide with the hottest part of the day when the defenders would be taking refreshment . Led by two forlorn - hopes , two columns would advance upon the defences around the breach , then wheel right and left to take over the fortifications . A third reserve column , commanded by Arthur Wellesley , would deploy as required to provide support where needed . At 11 : 00 a . m . , on 4 May 1799 , the British troops were briefed and whiskey and a biscuit issued to the European soldiers , before the signal to attack was given . The forlorn - hopes , numbering seventy - six men , led the charge . The columns quickly formed , were ordered to fix bayonets , and began to move forward . The storming party dashed across the River Cauvery in water four feet deep , with covering fire from British batteries , and within 16 minutes had scaled the ramparts and swept aside the defenders quickly . The British follow - up columns turned right and left , sweeping along the inside of the walls until they met on the far side of the city . Tipu ' s Tiger , an automaton in the Victoria & Albert Museum , was captured at Seringapatam . Death of Tipu . The column that rounded the northwest corner of the outer wall was immediately involved in a serious fight with a group of Mysorean warriors under a short fat officer , which defended every traverse . The officer was observed to be discharging hunting weapons , loaded and passed to him by servants , at the British . After the fall of the city , in the gathering dusk , some of the British officers went to look for the body of Tippu Sultan . He was identified as the fat officer who had fired hunting weapons at the attackers , and his body was found in a choked tunnel - like passage near the Water Gate . Benjamin Sydenham described the body as : ' wounded a little above the right ear , and the ball lodged in the left cheek , he had also three wounds in the body , he was in stature about and not very fair , he was rather corpulent , had a short neck and high shoulders , but his wrists and ankles were small and delicate . < br > ' He had large full eyes , with small arched eyebrows and very small whiskers . His appearance denoted him to be above the Common Stamp . < br > ' And his countenance expressed a mixture of haughtiness and resolution . He was dressed in a fine white linen jacket , chintz drawers , a crimson cloth round his waist with a red silk belt and pouch across his body . < br > ' He had lastly his turband and there were no weapons of defence about him . ' Adaptions . Wilkie Collins ' s novel " The Moonstone " begins with the looting of the jewels removed from Seringapatam in 1799 from the legendary treasury of Tippu Sultan . The Battle of Seringapatam is the main conflict in the novel " Sharpe ' s Tiger " , by Bernard Cornwell . Legacy . Two cannon captured by the British during the battle are now placed in front of the officer ' s mess at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst . Much of the site of the battle is still intact including the ramparts , the Water Gate , the place where the Tippu Sultan ' s body was found , the area where the British prisoners were held and the site of the destroyed palace .