The siege of Ahmednagar was the first battle of the Second Anglo-Maratha War fought between the Maratha Confederacy and the British East India Company. When he determined that a long defensive war would ruin his army, Wellesley decided to act boldly to defeat the numerically larger force of the Marathas.
| Siege of Ahmadnagar | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Second Anglo-Maratha War | |||||||||
 A British illustration of the battle | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
.svg){kind=small} British East India Company |
 Maratha Confederacy | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| Arthur Wellesley | Daulat Rao Scindia | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 24,000 | Unknown | ||||||||
  Ahmednagar Shown within Maharashtra  Ahmednagar Ahmednagar (India) | |||||||||
With the logistic assembly of his army complete (24,000 men in total) he gave the order to break camp and attack the nearest Maratha fort on 8 August 1803.[1] Wellesley's first move was to take the walled Pettah of Ahmednagar (town adjacent to the fort) by escalade,[2] on the same day (the 8 August).[3]
The Ahmednagar Fort surrendered on 12 August after an infantry attack had exploited an artillery-made breach in the wall. With the pettah and fort now in British control Wellesley was able to extend control southwards to the river Godavari.[4]
Notes
edit- ^ Holmes 2002, pp. 69, 73.
- ^ Fitchett 1911, pp. 102–104.
- ^ Wellesley 1859, p. 151.
- ^ Holmes 2002, p. 74.
References
edit- Fitchett, William Henry (1911), Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, Duke of, 1769-1852, London: G. Bell, pp. 102–104
- Holmes, Richard (2002), Wellington: The Iron Duke, London: Harper Collins, ISBN 978-0-00-713750-3
- Wellesley, Arthur (1859), "Camp at Ahmednuggur, 17th Aug., 1803", in Wellesley, Richard (ed.), Supplementary despatches and memoranda of field marshal Arthur duke of Wellington 1797–1819 with a map of India, vol. 4, London: John Murray, p. 151