The high-stakes gamble of Cornwallis's ghost camp pays off at dawn, exposing a hidden web of espionage and bribery run by William Read and Thomas Munro within the Mysorean ranks. But as the siege pushes toward its absolute limit, the fate of Bangalore comes down to a desperate midnight assault on March 21, 1791. In the conclusion of this two-part special, Ramjee Chandran chronicles the harrowing final hours of the campaign: the elite "Forlorn Hope" navigating a two-foot-wide causeway under a sky illuminated by Mysorean fireballs, the tragic collapse of an exhausted garrison, and the heroic death of Killedar Bahadur Khan.
Key Details from the Script:
The Ghost Camp Success: At dawn on March 17, Mysorean gunners unleashed a devastating, carefully targeted artillery salvo directly into Cornwallis's cavalry lines. Though the barrage tore through the canvas tents and churned up the landscape, the tents were entirely empty. Cornwallis's deception saved thousands of cavalry horses from being slaughtered, preserving British mobility for the rest of the campaign.
The Espionage of Read and Munro: To bypass the slow Madras administration, Cornwallis relied on Captain William Read and a young, language-proficient officer named Thomas Munro to run a sophisticated network of hircarrahs (intelligence runners). They successfully bribed and cultivated paid informants deep inside Bahadur Khan's own staff, mapping out Mysore's heavy batteries in real-time. (A historical detour: during this period, Munro translated a Persian manuscript containing the "pound of flesh" story that predated Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice).
The Arithmetic of Fatigue: Expecting an immediate British assault on March 20, Tipu Sultan threw 700 elite dismounted cavalrymen into the fort as reinforcements. The defenders stayed awake in a state of high alert for over 24 hours, maintaining constant fire. When the assault failed to materialise during the day of the 21st, the garrison succumbed to profound exhaustion—leaving them unable to hold watch when the true midnight attack finally commenced.
The Blank Cartridge Deception: On the day of the assault, the British concentrated heavy fire on the towers overlooking the eastern curtain wall breach near the Delhi Gate. For one full hour leading up to the attack, Colonel Giles ordered his men to switch to blank cartridges. The continuous noise and smoke successfully kept the defenders pinned away from the walls while allowing the storming parties to quietly slip into position undetected.
The Path of the Forlorn Hope: At 11:00 PM under absolute secrecy, the "Forlorn Hope"—a sergeant, twelve men, two lieutenants, and thirty elite soldiers—led the advance. To reach the breach, they had to cross a narrow, 100-yard causeway that the defenders had cut through, leaving a ledge just two feet wide. Soldiers crossed in single file in total darkness before the fort erupted with defensive blue lights and explosive fireballs that illuminated the night like the noon sun.
The Fall and the Tragedy: Led by the Forlorn Hope and supported by the Madras Sappers carrying scaling ladders, the British fought their way up the jagged breach, igniting brutal hand-to-hand combat across the ramparts. Within an hour, the fort fell. In the chaotic aftermath, retreating garrison troops collided with a crowd of sheltering women and children in a narrow gateway; unable to distinguish between them in the dark, British troops killed over 1,400 people.
The Death of a Hero: The silver-bearded Killedar, Bahadur Khan, fought to his final breath, sustaining nearly as many wounds "as were inflicted on Caesar in the capitol." Impressed by his gallantry, the British offered his remains to Tipu Sultan, who wept and requested he be buried where he fell. The British buried the veteran defender with full military honors, attended by senior Muslim officers from the British ranks.
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The theme music for the show was composed by German-Indian Koln based percussionist, Ramesh Shotham. Ramjee Chandran's photos by Asha Thadani.
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