Siege of Cuddalore

Drawing of the action by Richard Simkin, 1890

Date	7 June – 25 July 1783
Location	Cuddalore, Carnatic (present-day southeastern India) Coordinates: 11°45′N 79°45′E / 11.75°N 79.75°E / 11.75; 79.75
Result	Indecisive (ended by peace agreement)

Belligerents

Great Britain

British East India Company

Hanover

Sultanate of Mysore

France

Commanders and leaders

James Stuart

Edward Hughes

Marquis de Bussy-Castelnau

Bailli de Suffren

Sayed Sahib

Strength

1,660 Europeans
9,430 sepoys

Bussy: 2,500 Europeans
Bussy: 2,000 sepoys
5,800 Mysoreans
Suffren: 2,400 marines

Casualties and losses

1,000

Great Britain

The Siege of Cuddalore was a siege attempt by British troops against a combined French and Mysorean garrison at the fortress of Cuddalore in the Second Anglo-Mysore War. The siege ended when news arrived of a preliminary peace treaty between France and Britain.

British troops were under the command of Major-General James Stuart and arrived outside Cuddalore on 7 June 1783. This army consisted of the 73rd and 78th Highlanders, the 101st regiment, and a considerable body of Sepoys. It was subsequently reinforced by a detachment of two Hanoverian regiments (German troops) under Colonel Christoph August von Wangenheim.

On 6 June, the army took up a position on the sandy ground two miles from the garrison. They were between the sea on the right and the Bandipollum hills on the left, with a reserve line in the rear. The French and Mysoreans, commanded by Marquis de Bussy-Castelnau, took an intermediate and parallel position half a mile (0.8 km) in front of the fort.

On 13 June, Stuart decided to attack the redoubt in front of the fort in order to press the allies harder within Cuddalore itself. The assault took place at four in the morning, granting the British army an element of surprise. Eventually, the allies were driven from their principal defences and the last allied counterattack was defeated. By mutual consent, a cessation of firing took place. The allies suffered serious losses of nearly 500 casualties. Stuart's forces also suffered heavily: more than 900 British, Hanoverian, and Sepoys were killed or wounded. Though significantly weakened, Stuart continued to besiege Cuddalore proper and prepared for further reinforcements from the sea.

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