When the Tiger Fought the Thistle

The Tragedy of Colonel William Baillie of the Madras Army

Alan Tritton

• Publisher: Radcliffe Press
• Year: 2013
• Print ISBN:
  9781780764375
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9780857722959
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Military Biographies
• Index: History

The Battle of Pollilur on 10 September 1780, fought as part of the Second Anglo-Mysore War, was one of the worst defeats the British ever suffered on the Indian subcontinent. It was fought between a Brigade Column of the East India Company, led by Colonel William Baillie, and the Mysore Army, under the command of Haidar Ali and Tipu Sultan. Heavily outnumbered and wounded in battle, Baillie was taken prisoner and eventually died isolated and in captivity in Seringapatam, in the state of Karnataka near Mysore, on 13 November 1782. News of Pollilur aroused widespread consternation in England that India was lost, yet the news of Baillie's defeat and capture have been shrouded in mystery. Was Colonel Baillie really responsible for this military failure? What role did his contemporaries, such as General Sir Hector Munro of Novar who ws encamped a few miles away from the battle, play? In this engaging new biography, derived from fresh new research and archival material previously unseen, Alan Tritton presents the true story of William Baillie's life and death in India with the Madras Army of the East India Company covering the period 1760-1782.
Overturning the consensus view of the disaster at Pollilur, Tritton provides an original angle in reassessing Colonel Baillie's blame for the defeat, and questions whether he should be remembered as a failure or, rather, a Scottish military hero. This book will prove essential reading for specialists and enthusiasts of British military and imperial history.

Table of contents

• Contents
• List of Plates
• Preface and Acknowledgements
• Maps
• Introduction
• 1. The Relationship between England and Scotland from the Death of Queen Elizabeth to the Battle of Culloden Moor in 1746
• 2. The Early Years of William Baillie of Dunain and the Formation of the 89th Highland Regiment of Foot
• 3. The Later Years and Death of the Emperor Aurangzeb in 1707 and his Capture, Torture and Murder of Shambuji the Son of the Mahratta Chieftain Shivaji
• 4. The French in Southern India and Monsieur Dupleix, the Governor of Pondicherry. The English in Southern India and Mr Nicholas Morse, the Governor of Madras
• 5. Early Days of the English at Madras. The Siege and Surrender of Madras to the French under the Command of La Bourdonnais in 1746
• 6. Dupleix Becomes Master of Half of the Peninsula of India. His Defeat, his Return to France and his Subsequent Bankruptcy
• 7. The unsuccessful Second French Siege of Madras by General Comte de Lally. Followed by the Successful Siege and Capture of Pondicherry by the English in which Lieutenant William Baillie Participated
• 8. Early Letters of William Baillie to his Father and Mother. Personal Accounts of the Pondicherry Siege
• 9. An Account of a Fellow officer’s Voyage to Madras via Calcutta Coincident with that of William Baillie
• 10. Letters Concerning the Mauritius, Manila and Tanjore Military Expeditions. Disappointment
• 11. Hector Munro. William Baillie’s Transfer to the Madras Army
• 12. The First Anglo–Mysore War and the Battles of Chengam, Tiruvannamalai and Singarapet 1767
• 13. Description of a Campaign March in the Carnatic
• 14. William Baillie’s Brother John Arrives in the Carnatic. The Cadet System. Continued Fighting
• 15. Remittances to Dunain, John Baillie’s Correspondence with his Father
• 16. William Baillie Appointed Brigade Major. The Two Tanjore Campaigns and the Inability of the nawab to Pay the Promised Prize Money
• 17. The Significance of the Perquisite Batta. Further Remittances to Dunain. Death of William’s Father
• 18. The Arrival of Lord Pigot for his Second Term as Governor - His Subsequent Deposition Following his Re-Instatement of the Rajah of Tanjore - His Arrest and Death in Prison
• 19. Letters with References to the Bombay War with the Mahrattas and to the ‘Intestinal Broils’ in Calcutta. His Daughter Ann Sent Home to a Seminary from Cuddalore. The Arrival of Francis Baillie from Inverness
• 20. William Baillie’s Dissatisfaction with his Promotion Prospects, and Correspondence Relating Thereto. The General Dissatisfaction of Indian Army officers with King George III, Given his Granting Precedence to British Army officers over Indian Army officers. The Mutiny Act for India 1754 and Rumoured Defection of India from the British Empire
• 21. The Death of William Baillie’s Mother. The Winding up of her Estate. The Consequent Devolution of the Dunain Estate to William in Absentia in India and Correspondence Relating Thereto
• 22. Correspondence with Inverness and London. Reported Arrival of Thomas Rumbold and Hector Munro in Madras
• 23. Thomas Rumbold and the Source of his Fortune. His Presidency of the Madras Council. The Capture of Pondicherry and Mahe. The Sepoy Mutiny at Telicherry. The Guntoor Circar
• 24. The Guntoor Circar Affair Continued. The Involvement of Madras, Rumbold, Calcutta, Warren Hastings, the French, the nizam, his Younger Brother Basalat Jung, Haidar Ali and the Mahrattas. Rumbold’s Return and Trial
• 25. Detailed Account of the Siege and Preparations for the Storming of Pondicherry in 1778 by the Madras Army Commanded by Hector Munro with William Baillie as his Second in Command. Commendation of Lieutenant-Colonel William Baillie by Sir Eyre Coote
• 26. Further Correspondence with Scotland and with his Daughter Advising her of the Deaths of her Mother and her Sister and Brother
• 27. Paul Benfield - the Banker to the nawab. Passes to the Guntoor Circar Blocked by Haidar Ali who Invades the Carnatic with French Military Support
• 28. unreadiness of the Madras Council for War. Investiture of Arcot. General Sir Hector Munro Assumes Command of the Madras Army from Lord MacLeod. order to Concentrate Army at Conjeveram. William Baillie’s March South from the Guntoor Circar
• 29. Commencement of the Pollilur Action. Associated Inaction of Hector Munro. Colonel Fletcher’s Successful Reinforcement night March to Baillie. The Battle of Pollilur. The Defeat of Colonel Baillie. The Consequent Massacre. Death of Colonel Fletcher. ‘Poltroonery’ of Hector Munro
• 30. Various Accounts of the Battle
• 31. The Abandonment of the Army by Hector Munro. His Precipitous Retreat to Chingleput and Madras
• 32. Description of the Massacre by Survivors. The Decapitation of officers. Accounts by officer Prisoners of the March West to Bangalore and Seringapatam, their Incarceration and Chaining in the Seringapatam Dungeons. Torture and Death of Colonel William Baillie
• 33. Correspondence to William Baillie opened after his Death. His Calcutta Will. Death in Action of Francis Baillie. Death of Haidar Ali. The Deaths of Ann Baillie and John Baillie. His Daughter’s Marriage into the Author’s Rose Family. Disgrace of Hector Munro, the Famine of 1782 in Madras and the Carnatic occasioned by the War
• Appendix I
• Appendix II
• Index