Battle of Assaye
Part of Second Maratha War
The Royal Highland Fusiliers at Assaye
Date: September 23, 1803 Location: Assaye, India Result: British victory
Combatants
United Kingdom	Maratha Confederacy
Commanders
Arthur Wellesley	Sindhia, Ragojee Bhonsla
Strength
5,000 infantry, 2,000 cavalry	42,000
Casualties
1,500	6,000

The Battle of Assaye occurred September 23, 1803 near the village of Assaye in south-central India. It was one of the decisive battles of the Second Anglo-Maratha War.

Assaye is located near Jafrabad in Jalna district of Maharashtra.

The Background

The Second Maratha War arose initially from internal conflict within the Maratha Confederacy. The Peshwa, Baji Rao II, was the official head of the Marathas, but the most powerful princes were Daulatrao Sindhia of Gwalior, and Jaswant Rao Holkar of Indore. Baji Rao was defeated by Holkar at the Battle of Poona (25 October 1802). After his defeat Baji Rao fled to British protection and, by the Treaty of Bassein, formed an alliance with the British Governor-General of India Lord Wellesley and the British East India Company.

The Governor General determined to support the Peshwa. He re-installed Baji Rao in Poona on 13 May 1803 and attempted to negotiate with Sindhia but by early August negotiations had failed. The Governor General moved against the two principal Maratha forces: a combined army of Sindhia and the Raja of Berar.

Lord Wellesley formed two armies, the northern under General Gerard Lake, and the southern under Major-General Arthur Wellesley, his younger brother (who would later become better known as the 1st Duke of Wellington). Collaborating with General Wellesley was the East India Company's Hyderabad Contingent, some 9,400 strong, under the command of Colonel Stevenson. In addition to General Wellesley's own army were some 5,000-allied Mysore and Maratha light horse.

The battle

On the 20th September General Wellesley and Colonel Stevenson separated at Bednapur; Stevenson advancing through a valley some 14 miles west of Wellesley's line of march. He and Wellesley had planned to join forces again at a village twelwe miles from Bokerdunon on the 24 September. But Wellesley encountered the army of Sindhia and Ragojee Bhonsla at Assaye on 23 September. The latter numbered between 40,000 and 50,000 strong, including three brigades of regular infantry, the largest under the command of Anthony Pohlmann, a Hanoverian soldier of fortune, who had previously been a sergeant in the East India Company before defecting to the Marathas. The Maratha forces had taken position between the Kaitna and the Juah rivers; a position that the princes thought would be only attacked from across the Kaitna. Despite the numbers facing him Wellesley determined to attack.

Nearby, Wellesley found a place to ford the river near the village of Assaye. He then attempted to attacked a flank of the princes' army. This maneuver failed because his party was spotted as he crossed the river; the Indian army turned their front so they were again facing the British. But a valorous charge led by two Scottish battalions, HM 74th Highlanders (which lost all its officers) and 78th Highlanders, shattered the combined forces and the armies of the princes fled. The casualties of the princes' forces numbered about 6,000 men, while the British lost approximately 1,500. Despite sustaining such heavy casualties in their frontal attack, the British/Indian combined force won a considerable victory but having sustained such casualties, and having fought the battle after a 24-mile march, Wellesley's exhausted army was unable to pursue his defeated enemy.

This was 34 year old Wellesley's first major success, and one that he always held in the highest estimation, even when compared to his later triumphant career. According to anecdotal evidence, in his retirement years Wellington considered this his finest battle, surpassing even his victory at the Battle of Waterloo.

Sharpe's Triumph

This battle provides the backdrop for the book Sharpe's Triumph : Richard Sharpe and the Battle of Assaye, September 1803. The book, Sharpe's Triumph, is chronologically the second book in the popular Richard Sharpe series of books by Bernard Cornwell. A scene in this book where Sharpe saves the life of General Arthur Wellesley is pivotal to the series as through his actions, Sharpe obtains his commission as an officer.