ne of Col. Baillie's Officers describes, in his Memoirs, the
detachment which Sir Hector Munro dispatched on 8th September 1780
to relieve the beleaguered Colonel Baillie: ' under the command
of Lieutenant-Colonel Fletcher: One grenadier company, commanded
by Lieutenant Lindsay ; one company of
light infantry, by Captain Baird of the 73d regiment; two European
companies of grenadiers, the one commanded by Captain Phillips,
the other by Captain Ferrier; the native marksmen, amounting to
the number of sixty, under Lieutenant Muat; five companies of Sepoy
grenadiers, under Captain Rumley; and five under Captain Gowdie;
and nine camels laden with ammunition, together with the doolies
of the army. At half past eight in the afternoon, this detachment,
leaving the grand army, proceeded on their destination. On the 9th,
at one o'clock in the morning, they halted for half an hour in order
to refresh the men with a dram a biscuit.' John Lindsay himself
records that the detachment was 'with infinite secrecy collected
and placed under the command of a gallant and experienced officer,
Col. Fletcher. Of this unfortunate body, I commanded the grenadiers
of the 71st regiment (the 73rd was renumbered the 71st in 1786),
and my friend Captain (now General Sir David) Baird the light infantry.'
Fletcher brilliantly anticipated that Haidar's spies and Fletcher's
local guides (who were in Haidar's pay), intended to lead his detachment
to destruction. He found, however, on finally arriving close to
Baillie's detachment, that the Colonel had cut through the bank
of his tank, and flooded much of the countryside behind him. As
a result, after lying on their arms for three days and nights waiting
for the advance from Madras, and then marching 20 miles, Fletcher's
men had to wade the last section of their march to reach Baillie
at 07.00 a.m. At 8.00pm that evening, 9th September, by bright moonlight,
the combined force moved off towards Conjeeveram, harrassed and
fired on by Tipu's forces. After marching 11 miles, Baillie determined
to halt, to rest his exhausted men, calm and re-group the camp followers
and the baggage train, which carried provisions for the grand army,
and wait until day to re-assess the unfamiliar territory ahead .
Fletcher protested keenly, although 'being asked by some officers
why Colonel Baillie halted, modestly answered
, that Colonel Baillie was an officer of established reputation,
and that he no doubt had reasons for his conduct.'
The gallant Fletcher was killed at Pollilur. Among the survivors
of that battered band, Col Baillie and
Capt. Baird were wounded, and Captain John Lindsay was among the
200 men taken prisoner. His Journal, 'an account of myself, and
of the various circumstances that befel me, from the time that I
was taken prisoner by Haidar Ali on the 10th of September, 1780,
until my release from prison, and my arrival at Madras on the 17th
April, 1784,' describes Haidar's review of the prisoners on 11th
September, and the moving encounter which followed: 'When I came
out, a figure, covered all over with blood, came limping up to me
and called me by my name, which from the voice I soon discovered
was my old friend David Baird; this was a most welcome meeting to
both of us.'
