Battle of Delhi (1803)

Battle of Delhi
	Part of the Second Anglo-Maratha War
	; Map of the Battle of Delhi (1803)
Date	11 September 1803
Location	Delhi, Mughal Empire28°36′45″N 77°17′30″E / 28.61250°N 77.29167°E
Result	British victory
Belligerents
British East India Company	Maratha Confederacy
Commanders and leaders
Gerard Lake	Daulat Rao Scindia ; Louis Bourquin
Strength
4,500	19,000
Casualties and losses
Estimated 464–485 men killed or wounded	Estimated 3,000 killed or wounded
	Delhi class=notpageimage\| Location within Delhi Delhi Delhi (India)

The Battle of Delhi or Battle of Patparganj took place on 11 September 1803 during the Second Anglo-Maratha War, between British East India Company troops of the Bombay Army under General Lake, and the Marathas of Scindia's army under General Louis Bourquin and Sardar Ravsaheb Wable.

Background

Expecting forthcoming conflict with the Marathas, two Company armies began drilling for war. While Major General Wellesley prepared his forces in the newly conquered Seringapatnam, General Lake drilled his men in the north, close to the Maratha border.^[2]

When war broke out on the 1st of August, Governor general Lord Wellesley ordered two main thrusts into maratha territory; one by Lake to take Delhi, and one by Arthur Wellesley to secure the Deccan region, accompanied by minor offensives on the coasts of Gujarat and Orissa.^[3]

Lake left Kanpur on the 7th of August with an army of 10,000 men, accompanied by a cavalry division with Galloper guns. Lake's army proceeded to advance on the Maratha fortress of Aligarh on the 29th of August, with General Perron fleeing to Delhi to gather reinforcements, and eventually surrendering to Lake on the 1st of September.^[2]

Events

With Perron's surrender, Lieutenant Colonel Louis Bourquin took control at Delhi.^[4] Upon recieving news that Lake planned on advancing on Delhi as soon as possible, Bourquin crossed the Yamuna with 19,000 troops, and prepared an ambush on the Hindon river.^[2]

Bourquin chose a low hill overlooking a road flanked by two swampy lakes in order to funnel any enemy force into a bottleneck. He hid 100 heavy guns behind the elephant grass at the base of the hill, and awaited the enemy.

On the 11th of September, Lake ordered his men to camp for breakfast on the banks of the Hindon, after rapidly marching eighteen miles to Delhi.^[5] Very soon after the army had camped, Bourquin ordered the heavy artilery at the base of the hill to open fire. While the British army retreated in confusion, the Marathas failed to take advantage of the oppurtunity, and held position, giving Lake time to organize his men.^[5]

To lure Borquin away from his position, Lake ordered a feint, making the infantry fall back while executing a pincer movement with his cavalry, hidden in the grass.^[2] When the Marathas took the bait and abandoned their defensive positions, the Company infantry turned and charged with bayonets, supported by the galloper guns.^[5] Quartermaster John Pester, who was severely wounded by the initial maratha bombardment, wrote:

"We drove them into the Yamuna, and hundreds of them were destroyed in endeavouring to cross it."^[6]

On the night of the 11th, five French commanders surrendered to Lake, ending the battle.^[2]

Aftermath

The battle of Delhi would be the last time British and French officers would clash in South Asia.^[2] Following Arthur Wellesley's victory at Assaye on the 23rd of September, Maratha power in India began to gradually decline, until they were finally defeated by the Company in the Third Anglo-Maratha War.^[7]

After the battle, Lake went to capture Agra Fort, leaving David Ochterlony in charge of the city. Octerlony quickly set up an administration comprising of Company civil servants and old Mughal court officers to manage the city, and reduced the Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II as a mere figurehead.^[2]

A monument was later erected at the site in Patparganj, marked out by a surrounding ditch, commemorating Cornet Sanguine and the Company army soldiers who fell during the battle.^[7]

References

^ ^a ^b Naravane, M.S. (2014). Battles of the Honorourable East India Company. A.P.H. Publishing Corporation. pp. 76–77. ISBN 9788131300343.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Dalrymple, William (2019). The Anarchy: The Relentless Rise of the East India Company. Great Britain: Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-5266-1850-4.
^ Sarkar, Jadunath (2007). Fall of the Mughal Empire. Orient BlackSwan. ISBN 978-8125032458.
^ Compton, Herbert. A particular account of the European military adventures of Hindustan, from 1784 to 1803. Oxford University Press. pp. 303–305. ISBN 978-0195772272.
^ ^a ^b ^c Cooper, Randolph G.S (2007). The Anglo-Maratha Campaigns and the Contest for India (1st ed.). Cambridge English. ISBN 978-0521036467.
^ Pester, John (2019). War and sport in India, 1802-1806: an officer's diary. India: Alpha Edition. p. 166. ISBN 978-9353808143.
^ ^a ^b Naravane, M.S. (2014). Battles of the Honorourable East India Company. A.P.H. Publishing Corporation. pp. 76–77. ISBN 9788131300343.

[Naravane-1] Naravane, M.S. (2014). Battles of the Honorourable East India Company. A.P.H. Publishing Corporation. pp. 76–77. ISBN 9788131300343.

[:0-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Dalrymple, William (2019). The Anarchy: The Relentless Rise of the East India Company. Great Britain: Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-5266-1850-4.

[3] Sarkar, Jadunath (2007). Fall of the Mughal Empire. Orient BlackSwan. ISBN 978-8125032458.

[4] Compton, Herbert. A particular account of the European military adventures of Hindustan, from 1784 to 1803. Oxford University Press. pp. 303–305. ISBN 978-0195772272.

[:2-5] Cooper, Randolph G.S (2007). The Anglo-Maratha Campaigns and the Contest for India (1st ed.). Cambridge English. ISBN 978-0521036467.

[6] Pester, John (2019). War and sport in India, 1802-1806: an officer's diary. India: Alpha Edition. p. 166. ISBN 978-9353808143.

[:1-7] Naravane, M.S. (2014). Battles of the Honorourable East India Company. A.P.H. Publishing Corporation. pp. 76–77. ISBN 9788131300343.

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v t e Maratha Confederacy
Chhatrapatis (Kings)	Shivaji Sambhaji Rajaram I Tarabai Shahu I Rajaram II Shahu II Pratap Singh
Peshwas (Prime ministers)	Moropant Trimbak Pingle Moreshvar Pingale Ramchandra Pant Amatya Bahiroji Pingale Balaji Vishwanath Baji Rao I Balaji Baji Rao Madhavrao Ballal Narayan Rao Raghunathrao Sawai Madhavrao Baji Rao II Amrut Rao Nana Sahib Bhat family
Amatya & Pratinidhi (Councilors and viceroys)	Ramchandra Pant Amatya Pralhad Niraji Parshuram Pant Pratinidhi (hereditary) Shripatrao Pant Pratinidhi Jagjivanrao Pant Pratinidhi
Women	Ahilyabai Holkar Anandibai Gopikabai Jankibai Jijabai Kashibai Lakshmibai Mastani Parvatibai Putalabai Ramabai Saibai Sakvarbai Soyarabai Umabai Dabhade Baka Bai Tulsi Bai Holkar
Maratha Confederacy	Bhonsle of Nagpur Gaekwad of Baroda Scindia of Gwalior Holkar of Indore Patwardhan dynasty
Battles	Pratapgarh Kolhapur Pavan Khind Umberkhind Chakan Surat Purandar Sinhagad Salher Kalyan Bhupalgarh Bijapur Raigarh (1689) Jinji Satara Khelna Raigarh Torna Palkhed Malwa Mandsaur Bhopal Vasai 1st Trichinopoly Katwa (1st) 2nd Trichinopoly Katwa (2nd) Invasions of Bengal Burdwan Narela 2nd Delhi North-west India Peshawar 3rd Panipat Alegaon Rakshasbhuvan Capture of Delhi Pachgaon Saunshi Wadgaon Adoni Badami Savanur Gajendragad Bahadur Benda Lalsot Chaksana Patan Kharda Poona 3rd Delhi Assaye Laswari Farrukhabad Bharatpur Khadki Koregaon Mahidpur
Wars	Maratha-Mughal War of 27 years Maratha–Mysore War First Anglo-Maratha War Second Anglo-Maratha War Third Anglo-Maratha War
Adversaries	Adil Shahi Qutb Shahi Mughal Empire Durrani Empire British Empire Portuguese Empire Nizam of Hyderabad Kingdom of Rohilkhand Mysore
Forts	Mangad Panhala Pratapgad Purandar Raigad Rajgad Shaniwar Wada Shivneri Sindhudurg Rajgad Torna
Coins	Shivrai