Capture of the Woodcote & Raymond in Tellicherry Roads, 1798

Tellicherry Beach, from the graveyard below the fort.
The action described below occurred just beyond the rocks in the middle distance.
Please click on this image for a larger version.

If you stand today in the churchyard at Thalaserry and look out to sea, the view is generally peaceful, and there is little to disturb the ones view besides the passing of the small local fishing vessels, on their way out to sea or back, on their way to the fish market.

This has not always been the case however.

On Friday 19th April 1798, the bay was the scene of a fierce battle fought between a French privateer and two East India Company ships, the Raymond and the Woodcote.

The Raymond (993 tonnes) had been launched in 1781 and was on its sixth voyage to India, whilst the Woodcote (802 tonnes) was slightly younger, having been launched in 1786, and had made 4 voyages.

The Woodcote and the Princess Amelia had been part of a convoy from Bombay that had left that port on or shortly before the 5th of April bound for Tellicherry with supplies and men.

Captain Smedley commanding the Raymond arrived at Tellicherry on the morning of the 19th of April.


Raymond Indiamen.

Accounts from the coast of Malabar, of the 21st April, mention, that on the afternoon of the preceding day, a French frigate had stood into Tellicherry Roads; and, after a short action, captured the Hon. Company's ship Woodcote, then at anchor in the Roads. At the time of the capture, the Company's ship Raymond was standing into Tellicherry Roads: she was immediately attacked by the frigate, and, after a short and ineffectual resistance, was taken possession of by the enemy. About six o'clock, the frigate, accompanied by her prizes, made sail, and stood out to sea, steering S.W. The Raymond had on board a cargo, which, with the ship, is valued at twelve lacks of rupees; she had also a quantity of specie on board, not included in the estimate. Admiral Rainier had sailed from Tellicherry Roads on the 16th ult. The enemy had captured a ship belonging to the Queen of Cannanore, previous to falling in with the Indiamen; from which ship they received the information of their being in the Roads of Tellicherry.

May 1798.[1]

The French Frigate that had done all the damage was La Preneuse. This powerful 46 gun frigate had been operating out of Isle de France attacking British shipping for several years.

"La Preneuse is well known in the Eastern seas, and is now the largest ship of war the French have left on that station, being a similar frigate to La Forte, captured by the much lamented Captain Cooke, late of his Majesty's ship La Sybille. She belongs to the Mauritius squadron, and has done more damage to our trade than any ship the enemy had in that quarter. She captured the Raymond and Woodcote Indiamen in Tellicherry Roads, in April 1798, besides many other vessels of considerable value.

La Prenense had on board when she captured the above ships, forty-six guns, viz. thirty twenty-four pounders, eight nines, and eight thirty-eight pound carronades, with about 400 men."[2]

The following very interesting French account of the action was written soon after the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1818.

Le 8 mars, les ambassadeurs de Tippoo partirent avec les volontaires pour Mangalore, sur la frégate la Preneuse, et cette mission fournit au capitaine L'hermitte une nouvelle occasion de se signaler et de causer des dommages à l'ennemi. Après une courte relâche à l'île de la Réunion, pour y embarquer les volontaires de cette île et compléter les vivres de la frégate, cet officier se dirigea vers la côte de Malabar. Sa traversée, qui fut près de quarante jours, n'offrit rien de remarquable.

Le 18 avril, étant près de l'île Caroli, l'une des Laquedives, la Preneuse arrêta un bâtiment indien parti depuis trois jours de Cananore. Le patron de ce navire, qui fut relâché parce qu'il coulait bas d'eau, rendit compte que deux vaisseaux de la compagnie des Indes étaient, à Tellichery, occupés a charger du poivre. Le capitaine L'hermitte conçut le projet de s'emparer de ces bâtimens. Il vint, en conséquence, prendre connaissance de la côte de Malabar, le 20 avril, près de Tellichery ; mais il ne vit dans cette rade qu'un, seul bâtiment, au lieu de deux qu'il devait y avoir, suivant le rapport qui lui avait été fait. La frégate passa le reste du jour et une partie du lendemain à croiser le long de la côte, sous pavillon anglais.

Une pirogue que l'on prit le matin du 21, confirma que le bâtiment mouillé sous Tellichery était un vaisseau de la compagnie qui chargeait du poivre, et ajouta qu'il portait vingt-six canons de 12 en batterie, et qu'il avait un fort équipage, dont cent cinquante Européens faisaient partie. A une heure de l'après-midi, on découvrit un grand navire à trois mâts, qui venait toutes voiles dehors chercher le mouillage de Tellichery. Le capitaine L'hermitte, après l'avoir reconnu pour vaisseau de la compagnie, diminua de voiles et manœuvra de manière à ce qu'il mouillât avant la Preneuse.

A deux heures et demie, un orage terrible se déclara, et à trois heures le tonnerre tomba sur la pomme du grand mât de la Preneuse. Il descendit tout le long de ce mât jusque dans la cale, où il mit le feu, remonta ensuite dans la batterie et sortit par un sabord. Un homme fut tué roide dans la batterie , quinze ou seize autres plus ou moins grièvement blessés. Le capitaine L'hermitte lui-même fut renversé, et s'imagina d'autant plus facilement être blessé, que les éclats de bois enlevés du grand mât par la foudre et qui volèrent en ce moment, lui firent croire que c'était le vaisseau qu'il avait près de lui qui lui envoyait sa bordée. Ce qu'on peut regarder comme très-extraordinaire, c'est que , dans cette circonstance où tout était disposé a bord pour le combat, aucun, artifice, aucune gargousse n'ait pris feu, et qu'il ne soit pas parti un seul canon.

L'état du grand mât de la Preneuse obligea de serrer toutes les voiles qu'il portait, et le peu qu'il en resta dehors servit le dessein qu'avait le capitaine L'hermitte de laisser arriver le vaisseau ennemi au mouillage avant lui. Un peu avant quatre heures, ce bâtiment vint jeter l'ancre a cent brasses de celui qui était déja en rade depuis quelques jours. Le capitaine L'hermitte fit alors gouverner droit entre les deux, et il s'avança avec sa batterie armée des deux bords, résolu, aussitôt la première bordée lâchée, d'enlever un des deux vaisseaux à l'abordage.

Arrivée au milieu des deux navires ennemis, la Preneuse arbora les couleurs francaises, et envoya une bordée a celui qui venait de mouiller. Ce vaisseau riposta de toute la sienne, coupa son câble et largua ses voiles, dans l'intention de se jeter a la côte. L'autre, par sa position, ne put envoyer à la frégate francaise que deux ou trois coups de canon et un grand nombre de coups de fusil; mais le capitaine L'hermite ayant manœuvré pour l'aborder, en faisant sur lui un feu terrible de mousqueterie, son équipage évacua les gaillards. La Preneuse, canonnaut toujours l'autre vaisseau, se trouvait présenter le travers a la poupe de celui-ci, lorsque le capitaine anglais, redoutant l'effet d'un bordée envoyée dans cette position, coupa avec son sabre la drisse du pavillon, demandant quartier a grands cris. On lui intima l'ordre de venir i1 bord de la Preneuse avec ses officiers, ce qu'il fit sur-le- champ'.

Le second vaisseau ne se défendait que faiblement, cherchant à se jeter a la côte sous les batteries de Tellichery, qui tiraient des boulets et des bombes sur la frégate française. Il fut, malgré cela, bientôt joint et contraint d'amener son pavillon.

Ces vaisseaux appartenaient tous deux à la compagnie des Indes, et étaient du port de neuf cents tonneaux. Le premier s'appelait le Woodcott, et l'autre le Raymond. Leur capture donna à la république plus de six cents prisonniers, dont la moitié Européens, parce que le Raymond avait, en Océan indien, outre de son équipage, une partie des soldats de deux bataillons des troupes de la compagnie avec leurs drapeaux, qui furent remis au capitaine français. On trouva à bord du Woodcott deux caisses de roupies.

Embarrassé de ses nombreux prisonniers , le capitaine L'hermitte conclut avec le colonel anglais commandant a Tellichery une convention, par laquelle les officiers, soldats et marins pris s'engagèrent à ne point servir contre la république jusqu'à parfait échange contre un pareil nombre de Français. La première chose dont il s'occupa ensuite fut d'équiper ses prises; cela fait, il les expédia pour l'Ile-de- France, où elles arrivèrent heureusement.

Ce coup de main du capitaine L'hermitte sous Tellichery ne retarda pas beaucoup sa mission: il arriva à Mangalore le 24 avril. Il débarqua sur-le-champ les ambassadeurs de Tippoo et les volontaires français, et, après avoir passé deux jours seulement dans cette rade, il eu partit, et fut rejoindre, vers la mi-juin, à Java , l'amiral Sercey, qui venait d'y arriver sur la Br1lle-Gueule, avec l'intention d'établir son quartier-général dans cette île.[3]

Tellicherry Bay, showing the location of the battle, in about 1778. By Forbes, Published in 1818. Click click on picture for larger image.

Most East India Company ships carried only the minimum of crew, and these crews had often been denuded of experienced sailors in Indian waters because of forced recruiting by press gangs sent aboard by Royal Navy ships operating on the India station, leaving them shorthanded if they had to operate their guns.

La Preneuse was carrying an especially important set of passengers on this voyage, in the shape of two ambassadors from Tipu Sultan returning from an embassy to the French authorities on the Isle de France. These ambassadors had been trying to gain support for Tipu Sultan from the French, in his struggle against the growing power of the East India Company, and to co-ordinate plans for future joint operations between the French and Tipu's forces.

The activities of these two ambassadors was of the greatest concern to the East India Company governors and officials in India, because Tipu Sultan was the only force in being left in India at this time capable of opposing the East India Company. If Tipu could draw in French technical support the situation in India might easily become be critical.

Embarking from Isle de France on the 7th of March 1798, with one hundred French offices and fifty private soldiers to act as instructors and advisors to Tipu Sultan's army, La Preneuse was bound for Mangalore which Tipu controlled at this time.

Monsieur L'hermitte,(1766-1826) Captain of the La Preneuse[4]

Unwittingly, the captain of the La Preneuse Monsieur l'Hermitte [5]was to provide the English with a pretext and reason to resume their attack on Tipu Sultan, which led to the fall of Seringapatam in 1799.

The ambassadors left a particularly good account of the action in Tellicherry Bay.

The ship on which we were, arriving near the Lacadives, took a patamar, in which there were some Malabar men; and we asked from whence they came? they said,from Cannanore : We asked what news there was from Tellicherry, and whether there were any English ships there or not? they replied, that there were two ships there, the Raymond and Woodcote. Immediately on hearing this news, the patamar was released, and the ship was steered towards Tellicherry. Every body, however, objected; observing, that as the vakeels were on board, it would be improper to go to Tellicherry for the purpose of fighting. The captain of the ship replied, that after receiving accounts of the English ship, should he not go in quest of them, he should be highly culpable, and deserve to be put to death : he would, therefore, by no means acquiesce.

Accordingly, on Friday the 19th of April 1798, we arrived at Tellicherry,and found one ship at anchor there. Near the evening another ship had come into the road of Tellicherry, when on a sudden, a violent storm arose, and the lightning striking the ship, she was dashed to pieces on the shore—one man was killed by a stroke of the lightning, and eight were wounded.

At this time another English ship, which had come from Bombay, made her appearance, and entering the roads of the port, came to an anchor. Neither of the ships had yet furled their sails, when the French ship, on board of which we were, went in between the two English ships which were in the roads of Tellicherry, and came to an anchor. She called out to each of these ships to haul down their colours; upon which both ships fire off their guns, and an engagement ensued. The ship which had been previously at anchor,struck her colours, and the one which had come from Bombay, getting up her anchor, was making off; but she was also taken and brought back.

Passing by the fort and battery, the two prizes and our own ship, were anchored in the river (or sea.) The number of the prisoners, chiefs and others, taken in the prizes, amounted to about 500 Europeans. Having put our own men on board their ships, we confined their crews on board our own ship.

In the morning, a Sirdar came on board our ship from Tellicherry, and a French Sirdar set off for Tellicherry. What conferences were held by them, or what arrangement they made, we did not ascertain : some few of the English were detained, and the remainder were set at liberty. Both the prizes were dispatched to the island of Mauritius. We heard that the two ships were worth five lacks of rupees, and that the goods, money, effects, and different articles, were valued at five lacks. The remaining persons having been sent off to Tellicherry, the next day we weighed anchor, and pursued the route to Courial.[6][7]

The loss of these two ships was played down by the British at this time, and although the voyage is covered in great detail in many of the accounts of the renewed outbreak of hostilities with Tipu Sultan, authors like Sir John Malcolm however fail to mention it at all.

Other authors like Christopher Biden writing in 1830, in his book Naval Discipline... says

H. C. S. Raymond and Woodcot and La Preueuse. 1798. The Company's ships Raymond and Woodcot were surprised, in Tellicherry-Roads, and captured by La Preneuse, French frigate, which ran in between the Indiamen, under English colours, then at anchor, engaged on both sides, and, after as much resistance as the one ship, receiving cargo, the other just come to an anchor, and taken by surprise, could make, they struck their colours.[8]

This suggests that the French captain used a ruse de guerre, to get close to the English ships, before opening fire. Indeed this was a method that Captain l'Hermite was to employ at Algoa Bay during the following year, in an unsuccessful attack on shipping at anchor in that bay. So whilst it would have been in keeping with the captain's way of operating, it was not uncommon for the Royal Navy at that time to have used the same tactic in other cutting out operations.

There was an especially large crew on board the Woodcote because she had just rescued the Captain and crew of the HEIC Ship Princess Amelia which had caught fire off Cannanore, on the 5th of April 1798.

"CHRONICLE FOR MAY 1798.

Lost of the Princess Amelia,
to Robert Richards, Esq. Secretary to Government, Bombay.

With extreme sorrow I acquaint you, for the information of the Hon. Governor in Council, that the Hon. Company's ship the Princess Amelia caught fire on the 5th of April, at one o'clock in the morning, off Cannanore, in the after-hold; and, notwithstanding every exertion, was entirely in flames, fore and aft, in a quarter of an hour, and every soul obliged to jump over-board. Nothing of any description was saved from the ftip, except the people of whom I inclose you a list. I have not been able to trace any circumftance that might lead to true origin of this dreadful accident. I shiould have come back to Bombay myself, but am exceedingly ill; and if I did, I might not be in time to save the season to England, which I think I ought to reach with all possible expedition, to give the Hon. Court of Directors an account of this melancholy accident. Mr. Vautier, the purser, who arrives with this, and to endeavour to get copies of the owners' accounts, will use his utmost endeavours to join me again on the coast.

I am, Sir,

Your most obedient Servant, John Ramsden.
Ship Woodcote, April 5, 1798.

List of the Crew saved from the Princess Amelia.


Mr. J. Ramsden, commander
Mr W. Fairley, chief officer
Mr. R. H. Brown, 2d do.
Mr. J. March, 3d do.
Mr. J. Locke, 4th do.
Mr. J. J. Vautier, purser
Mr. C. Dakers, surgeon
Mr. W. Schoot, surgeon's-mate
Mr J. Farrington, boatswain
Mr. J. Braham, boatswain's-mate
Mr. T. Potter, do.
Mr. J. Petney, quarter-master
Mr. T. Hoskins, do.
Mr. J. McKinnon, do.
Mr. S. Sayer, carpenter
Mr. T. Howell, carpenter's-mate
Mr. J. Thompson, Ship's-steward
Mr. M. Florence, sailmaker
Mr. T. Dunkin, gunners-mate
Mr. N. Hughes, midshipman
Mr. G. Frith, do.
Mr. Т. Dunkley, butcher
Mr. C. Meffo, ship's cook
Mr. W. Barneld, late surgeon's-mate
Mr. J. Mathews
J. Poole, J. Gabriel, A. Behrons, D. Zhan, F. Gunkell, W. Hornburg, O. Shaumburg, J Krug, J. Burke, S. Shandley, N. Smith, J. Kelley, T, O'Hara, J. Nalemate, G. Nalemate G. Recardo,J. Ember, A. Josea, J. Ferrara, A. de Cruz, J. Pedro, T. Gunn, P.Green,W. Fairbrother, G. Hughes, M. Dickenson, W. Brown, J. Ryan, H.Nail, J. Carrol, J. Harrison, H. Land, S,Hughes, T. Watson, J. Swift, R.Gatty, P. Obury, S. Sayer, E. Worsley, W. Colthurst, J. Campbell, and J. Myers, seamen.

Passengers saved.

Miss Dick, Major Conran. Captains Evans and Torrians. Lieutenants Savage, Burdett, Stanney, Gilbert, Moreland, Martin, Elphinstone, and Brown. Serjeants Hum, Mathews, Darby, Smith, Sloper, Moor, Kelley, Jefferys, Pool, Harding, Frazer, and Nevill. Corporals Garrel, Burns, Wild, Campbell, Wethers, Winwood, Henby, Colins, and Mackenzie. Privates, Fox, Simpson, Jones, Phillips, Hammond, Helegfelt, Rees, Rully, Moloney, Kelly, Wilks, Coburne, Whittane, Bhoomer, Cullen, and Grimming. Conductors, Hasty and Ryan, 2 followers, 2 wometen, 2 bullock-wallahs, 14 lafcars belonging to the ship, and Miss Dick's female servant and a boy.

TOTAL NUMBER SAVED.
Ship's company .......... 80
Passengers ...............59
189

List af the Crew drowned.

Mr. Millet, 5th officer

J. Stamp, captain's steward
J. Barber, gunner
J. Nances, cooper
R. Davis, cooper's-mate
J. Cook, baker
F. Hall, captain's servant
T. Smith, surgeon's ditto
R . Fidgetts, carpenter's boy
B. Wood, gunner's ditto
J. May, C. Legnam, J. Bony, W. Sedgewick, J. Murphy, and A. Josea, seamen.

Passengers drowned.

Master Selby. Serjeants Cannick, Bodycoat, and Tedence. Corporals Nicholls. Brett, Welwood, Ruson, Double, апd Wiggins; 9 women, 1 follower, 1 Dutchman, 3 women, 1 child.

TOTAL NUMBER LOST.

Ship's company ........... 16
Passengers...... . ....... 24
40
(Signed)J. Ramsden[8]

It is quite probable that many of these passengers and crew from the Princess Amelia would still have been aboard the Woodcote when the French frigate hove into the bay. For many of the survivors of the Princess Amelia, there was to be a second highly traumatic event just two weeks after their escape from the fire.

The fire must have been clearly visible to many of the inhabitants of Tellicherry who would have been able to see to Cannanore, as would have also been the case during the capture of the Woodcote and the Raymond.

Amongst those prisoners taken from the Woodcote and Raymond was Captain Smedley. He appears to have been well looked after aboard La Preneuse, as he was to give evidence that he had seen a copy of the treaty between the French on Isle de France, and Tipu Sultan on the wall of the captain's cabin.

No. IX.

From Governor Duncan. Mr Lord, Bombay, 23rd May, 1/98.

I beg leave, on the occasion of this first communication, to assure your lordship that it's not having been earlier has Certainly proceeded from no other motive than a reluctance to appear forwardly intrusive on your lordship's time, having otherwise little else to impart than what will have much sooner reached you through the correspondence of the Commissioners in Malabar and of the Board here, with the Government of Fort St. George, and with the acting Governor-General; nor have our lastest advices from the coast tended hitherto to throw any satisfactory light on what may he the Sultan's intentions, but should he have been induced to more peaceable councils, so fortunate a change must, no doubt, have been the happy effect of the influence of your lordship's opportune arrival, and of its consequences.

Being still, however, uncertain here as to the event, I think your lordship may consider as meriting some degree of attention, the following memoranda, collected from such information as could be furnished by Captain Smedley and the officers of the Raymond, from the opportunities they had whilst in company with their captors of deriving insight into the views of the French as connected with Tippoo; all which seems but too corroborative of the other indications on the same subject, which were such as to have induced us very earnestly to convey all the knowledge we possessed on the subject to the Admiral, with the hope of thereby frustrating the arrival of succours to Tippoo by the way of Mangalore, as might, no doubt, have been ensured but for the early departure of the Suffolk and Arrogant to the other coast, which was immediately followed by the surprise and capture of our Indiamen, the loss from which to the Company will not, including the Amelia destroyed by fire, exceed four lacks and thirty thousand rupees, instead of the very large amount which by the newspapers it appears to have been understood to amount to on the other side of India, and we have taken measures to provide against the recurrence of such a misfortune by fixing the seat of the commercial residency at Cannanore, under the guns of which fortress several Indiamen may at a time, or separately, find effectual protection from any enemy.

With the best wishes for the success and honour of your lordship's administration, and the sincerest desire to contribute towards it by every exertion that in my station I can make, as well as thence to merit and enjoy the gratification of your lordship's correspondence and advice. I have the honor to be,

My Lord,

Your Lordship's very obedient humble servant,
John Duncan.

The Rt. Hon. the Earl of Mornington, K. P. [10]

La Preneuse herself sailed on from Tellicherry to Mangalore arriving and disembarking both the ambassadors and the French officers and advisers.

With the evident defenceless of the shipping in Tellicherry anchorage clearly demonstrated, a decision was taken to move the settlements main function to Cannanore, and with this began the steady decline of Tellicherry, as the garrison moved away to Cannanore.

La Preneuse would meet with her own destruction on the 11th of December 1799, when HMS Tremendous, 74 guns, under Captain John Osborne, and 50 gun ship Adamant under Captain William Hotham, would trap her whilst cruising off Port Louis on the Isle De France. She was run aground on the western shore of the River Tombeau about 3 miles from Port Louis, when she was set on fire and destroyed.

The sinking of La Preneuse by Auguste Mayeur[11]

A possibly more accurate print of the same action is shown below.

Combat et destruction de la Frigate la Preneuse [12]

[1] From the Asiatic Annual Register, or a view of the History of Hindustan, for the year 1799. Published 1801. Translation of the Narrative of Mohammed Ibrahim, one of the Ambassadors despatched by Tippoo Sultaun to the Isle de France in 1797. Page 175 - 196.
[2] The Naval Chronicle, Published 1800, volume III, page 411-412.
[3] Victoires, conquêtes, désastres, revers et guerres civiles des Français: published in 1818,by Charles-Théodore Beauvais, Charles-Nicolas Beauvais, Jacques Philippe Voïart, Ambroise Tardieu, Page 303.
[4] See http://www.etab.ac-caen.fr/lebrun/histoire/affiche.php?choix=49 for an excellent article on the history of this very effective French naval officer.
[5] From Naval Biography; or Memoirs of the Services of all the Flag-Officers, etc. published 1829, page 169.
[6] From the Asiatic Annual Register, or a view of the History of Hindustan, for the year 1799. Published 1801.Page 193.
[7] Courial was the French (and Tipu Sultan's?) name for Mangalore.
[8] Naval Discipline, Subordination Contrasted With Insubordination; or, a view of the Necessity for Passing a Law etc. etc. Christopher Biden, Published 1830, page 212.
[9] From the Asiatic Annual Register, or a view of the History of Hindustan, for the year 1799. Published 1801.Page 3.
[10] The Despatches, Minutes, and Correspondence, of the Marquess Wellesley. by Montgomery Martin, 1836. Page 41.
[11] From http://www.peguesthouses.co.za/portelizabeth_history.htm, with the story of the battle of Algoa Bay and La Preneuse eventual destruction at Port St Louis.
[12] From http://historic-marine-france.com/gravures/garneray.htm

"Ferocity .. characteristic of the cast of Nairs" 1799

Like many insurgencies the war against the Pazhassi Raja was a brutal one, with both sides on occasion taking heavy losses.

Later accounts published in the 19th Century tend to picture the British winning battles over the various Indian forces with comparative ease.

This was often not in fact the case, and as the following news paper account makes clear the insurgents were often able to inflict heavy casualties onto the East India Company forces.

From the Whitehall Evening Post
Saturday, July 20, to Tuesday, July 23, 1799.

Authentic Particulars respecting the primary Rupture with the COTIOTE RAJAH, recently received from India. Captain Bowman and Lieutenant Bond were sent with a detachment to take possession of a stronghold near Cootungarry, and were decoyed by a Hircarrah,[1] employed on the occasion, into a narrow defile, where a strong party of Nairs in ambuscade, availing themselves of the disadvantageous situation of the detachment, and their mode of attack, beset the party with a ferocity peculiarly their own, when Captain Bowman and Lieutenant Bond were almost immediately over powered and killed. Several Sepoys were also killed and wounded on the spot. Captain Lawrence, on hearing the report of the musquetry, proceeded, with all possible expedition, at the head of a body of grenadiers, towards the succour and support of Captain Bowman’s detachment: but having experienced a similar breach of faith in his guide, was also attacked in the same defile: but, after a warm and fortunate resistance, effected his retreat, and took post in a pagoda the whole night and part of the next day, hemmed in by upwards of a thousand of the Rajah’s troops.

Captain Troy, who had been employed in mustering the Native troops, and Captain Shean, on his return from a visit, fell in with a party of these sanguinary savages, who, having surrounded them, coolly and unprovokedly put the first to death, and wounded the latter in a shocking and barbarous manner. It would appear, from the foregoing circumstances that the inhuman wretches chiefly aimed at the destruction of the Officers: but particularly from their subsequent barbarity, the bodies of Capt. Troy and Lieutenant Bond having been since found decapitated; their heads, as it is supposed, having been sent to the Rajah – the copse of Captain Bowman was snatched from a similar fate of so many Officers, in being cut off from their relations and friends in this cruel and insidious manner, cannot be too much lamented, and furnishes a melancholy example of the inherent ferocity which has ever been characteristic of the cast of Nairs.

I cannot locate any other sources for this action, or indeed details of these officers. It is almost as if they have been edited out of the record.

I would be very grateful if you are able to recognise any of the people in the account, or can tell me anything about their lives or units before this defeat cut short their lives.

Where is "Cootungarry?"

I would like to thank Dr Oliver Noone for bringing this newspaper account to my notice.

[1] Hircarrah, variant of HURCARRA, HIRCARA , &c., s. Hind. harkārā, 'a messenger, a courier; an emissary, a spy' (Wilson). The etymology, according to the same authority, is har, 'every,' kār, 'business.' The word became very familiar in the Gilchristian spelling Hurkaru, from the existence of a Calcutta newspaper bearing that title (Bengal Hurkaru, generally enunciated by non Indians as Hurkĕroó), for the first 60 years of last century, or thereabouts. Courtesy of Hobson Jobson. See http://dsal.uchicago.edu/dictionaries/hobsonjobson/

"Indian Atrocities."

Not all of the British Officers approved of the way the East India Company had conducted wars in India.

Many of them must have suffered badly from the constant strain of fighting these wars, and many of them must have returned home to Britain seriously ill and with a very uncertain future.

In 1805, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder had not even been considered, and yet it must have existed.

Here is a very different account of what it had been like to fight the Pazhassi Raja, from those generally presented in publications from this period.

The following account written by George Strachan in 1817 paints a grim picture of the reality behind the war with the Raja. —

The details with which I have promised to finish you on the subject of my ten year-servitude in the northern peninsula of India, I hereby commence.

In 1790, at the age of 17, I was appointed a Cadet on the Bombay establishment with about seventy Cadets of the same Season. Of these there are not above twenty of the establishment, who have survived the effects of a noxious climate, and the fatigues of that hateful service of which I was engaged. In 1800, I was appointed senior Ensign of the Bombay European regiment, then engaged in the Cotiote war, where in less than ten years that regiment lost not less than twenty-five Officers out of thirty, and eight hundred men out of the full complement of one thousand. In 1801, I was promoted to be Lieutenant, and transferred to the 4d battalion, 3d native regiment engaged on the same service. The mortality was not less than in the former corps. Here I shall beg leave to describe the nature of the Cotiote war.—A more cruel and vindictive system of proscription was never practised by the most barbarous nation towards its foe, than that which was employed by the Bombay Government towards the Rajah of the Cotiote, hitherto the staunch ally, friend, and tributary, of the Company. Those facts, with which I became acquainted, have never been presented in any shape to the public eye. Indeed the bye-laws of the company would have made it almost treason in any of their servants to have exposed the secrets of the cruel system of extirpation, pursued towards this inoffending people, who from time immemorial had led a life of primitive and pastoral simplicity, attached to their sovereign by every motive of moral and religious obligation, to a degree of enthusiasm surpassing that of any other race of men, under a monarchical government, since the world began.

The Cotiote is that part of the Malabar coast which is between the sea-shore, and the Bella Ghaut mountain inland from Calicut, Tillichery, and Cairaone. It is for the most part covered with jungles or forests, interspersed with fruitful vallies, and in many places with impenetrable thickets, in which the ferocious tiger and other wild beasts entrench themselves in safety from the pursuit of man. It is about forty miles in breadth and sixty in length. Its produce — pepper, rice, and vegetables. Its population, now extinct, did not originally exceed 6000 men of the cast or tribe, called Nairs. This warlike people, determined to perish in the cause of their oppressed sovereign. And such was the dear bought victory obtained over them, that we lost in a contest which lasted ten years nearly as many men as our victims; till hunted down like beasts of prey, this race of brave men (who had been proclaimed rebels) were at length extirpated by fire and sword from the face of the earth. Nothing now remains of this people save the country which they inhabited, and that is become a barren and uncultivated desert The Bullum Rajah is the sovereign of another nation, bordering upon the Cotiote, which was at nearly the same time devoted to proscription and hunted down in like manner under the late General Stevenson, of the Madras cavalry.

The Cotiote war was terminated by the late Colonel Montresore, of the 80th regiment, in 1804, when, as if to throw a veil over these transactions; the Malabar coast was transferred to the Madras Government, who now occupy it.

The Cotiote Rajah had previously assisted the Company in their war with Hyder Ally, and furnished 1000 armed men, who distinguished themselves under our banners, in expelling Hyder from the possession of Саnnanore. ' Ungrateful as the treatment this high-minded prince and people -afterwards experienced from their European neighbours, to whom they supplied the whole produce of their cultivation, the 'task of recording their sufferings- in the heart rending scenes of cold-blooded slaughter, which this picturesque country every were presented to our view, is nevertheless painful to me. It fell to my lot, with a detachment of Sepoys, to command at Pyche, the Rajah's capital, whence he had been expelled; not one of his subjects had remained behind, but they had taken up arms, and followed his desperate fortunes in the field. Thus was I enabled to detail those atrocities, at the relation of which Englishmen here at home must be horror -struck, and to which they can scarcely give credit: but the facts related defy contradiction, and can be attested by respectable persons, lately arrived in England, who were also engaged in that campaign.

This brave but fugitive Indian Prince was alternatively attacking or retreating from the detachments in pursuit of him through the forests. Sometimes in one of these rencontres we have lost 800 men. His force being dispersed, he had taken refuge in one lone house, with not above 10 or 12 armed followers. These chose rather to be cut to pieces than surrender, and thus favoured his escape, fighting sword in hand till they fell to a man in defence of his person. This was at a time when a large reward and pardon were offered to his subjects if they would discover his retreat, in order to lead to his decapitation ; otherwise no quarter was given. Their towns, houses, and fields of standing corn, were burnt down. On every rising ground and road-side, 20 or 30 bodies were seen hanging to a gibbet, and some promiscuously upon trees. The prisoners taken were either immediately so disposed of, or shot and bayoneted upon the spot ; and such was the spirit of desperate resistance and despair manifested on the part of this unhappy people, that, unnatural as it may appear, they actually cut the throats of their own wives and children, ¡n order to prevent their falling into our bands.

The Canute Nambier, and 'others of his nobles, having been taken prisoners, were ordered for execution. Captain J--, a brother officer and valuable friend of mine, now in England, was commanded to see that order enforced. That Gentleman, in a letter I received from him on the occasion, which does honour to the liberal sentiments of his mind, described this reluctant duty with horror and pity, though mixed with admiration at the heroic firmness of those noble Indians. They faithfully adhered to their Sovereign down to the awful moment of yielding up their lives in his cause. The offer held out to them by the British Government was, a free pardon and an ample reward, provided they would discover the Rajah's retreat!

These terms were, even in their last moments, rejected with indignation. They voluntarily stretched out their hands to receive the rope, and putting it round their necks, were launched into another World, which to them afforded a nobler reward, and a brighter hope."[1]

It is not easy to find much about the life and career of George Strachan. In 1817 he was described as "Mr George Strachan - formerly a lieutenant Bombay Establishment in consideration of his extreme poverty and distress."

He was granted a political pension of £50 per year. This amount was very small. Retiring Major's could expect about £400 a year.

It is probable that Strachan had chosen quite deliberately to get his piece published by the Examiner, in order to embarrass the East India Company.

This paper had a Radical viewpoint and had been established in 1808 by John Hunt. Both John and his brother Leigh were to serve time in Surrey County Gaol for an attack on the Prince Regent in 1813. The Hunts were visited by Byron, John Moore, Lord Brougham and Charles Lamb. [2]

Three years later the EIC would prepare a copy minute on the request of George Strachan, late Lt 3rd Bombay NI, to be restored to the service. [3]



[1] Published in the Examiner Volume 9, for the year 1818. Page 594 and 595.
[2] See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leigh_Hunt
[3] Military Department Special Collections: Collection 14a IOR/L/MIL/5/377, Coll 14a 1820

The Development of the Forts at Tellicherry 1750 to 1780

Figure 1. Tellicherry drawn from the sea by Mr Herbert before about 1780. Published by A Dalrymple in 1790.
Please click on this image for a larger version.

The following is a description of a visit made by Abraham Parsons to Tellicherry, who had left Bombay on 7^th December 1775 and sailed south along the coast to Malabar, contains one of the best descriptions of the forts at Tellicherry in the late 18th Century that I have found so far.

This has enabled me to provisionally locate two more of the outlying forts surrounding Tellicherry.

"About three or four leagues to the south of Cananore is Tellicherry, the only settlement belonging to the English East India Company on this coast, where there is an English garrison; the other places being only comptoirs by permission of Hyder Ally, the sovereign.

The English are lords of Tellicherry and the district dependant on it, which reaches but a very little way, either within land, or to the north or south on the sea-coast; yet is quite sufficient for the intended purpose of trade. Here is a good fort, with strong walls, well garrisoned, with convenient houses for the chief, and the gentlemen of the factory, within the walls. That of the chief in particular is not only large, but a superb building ; it is situated on the same mount with the adjoining castle, and overlooks and commands the adjacent country and sea shore.

On a summit, about a mile to the south of the fort, is a small castle, called Mile End, where a sufficient guard is kept, and where the little dominion of Tellicherry terminates. It is so near the northern limit of the French settlement called Mahee, that the centinels hear each other give the parole."

The proximity of Mile End Fort to the French forts in Mahé can easily be seen from the following panorama drawn from the mast of a ship, anchored off the coast of Tellicherry in about 1775.

Figure 2. The coast between Tellicherry Fort and Mahé. Mile End Fort can be seen one mile south of the main fort. The border with the French settlement at Mahé can be seen less than a third of a mile away, with a small French fort on the hill at the extreme right of this image.
Please click on the image for a larger version.

This image and the following one were drawn from ships sailing along the coast and were intended to enable ships arriving on the coast to identify where they had arrived at. The views from the masts of ships, fore shorten the distances, and have the effect of bring the Ghats closer to the shore than they appear from the shore itself. The ships officers who made these drawings used compasses and other instruments to set out their elevations, and as a result the pictures are very accurate.

Figure 3. Mile End Fort.Showing its location on top of a small hill next to the shore.

Abraham Parson's attention then turns to the area to the north of the main fort, that survives in the middle of Thalassery today.

"A little way to the north of Tellicherry is a block-house with cannon mounted, surrounded by a stone wall; between the wall and block-house there is a deep foss. The block-house stands very high; there is but one entrance into it, which is by a very long and narrow wooden ladder, wide enough to permit one man to pass at a time. On the whole, Tellicherry is so well fortified, that Hyder Ally, during the last war with the English, did not think proper to attack this settlement. We staid here four days."

Figure 4. "The Coast Below Mr Brenner's House"[1] This photo was taken between 1855 and 1860 and it probably shows the rear face of the blockhouse to the north of the fort, described by Abraham Parsons in 1775.

I have not been able to locate the exact location of this northern blockhouse, but it was located where Edward Brennan's house came down to the shore. This must be very close to Overbury's Folly.

The following aerial image shows a tree covered rectangular site on the shore above rocks which may be the ones shown in the following picture. If you are in Thalassery and you read this blog, I would be fascinated to learn if my hunch is correct.

Figure 5. Possible location of the northern blockhouse
shown on a Google Earth Image of the coast.

Parson's left the town shortly afterwards on his journey south.

"December the 2d. We departed and proceeded to the southward, and kept at such a distance from the shore as not to distinguish any town, except the French settlement called Mahee, which is so near that it may be almost said to join."[2]

Figure 6. A French map from the 1780's showing the border between the Tellicherry Settlement at Mile End and the French Forts along their northern boundary.

On January 18th in the following year Parsons returned north by ship calling in at Tellicherry once again. He left the following detailed description of the town.

"The town of Tellicherry is well peopled, and they carry on an extensive inland and foreign trade. Most ships from China and Bengal, (which, are bound to Goa, Bombay or Surat) touch here, and dispose of part of their cargoes, which is mostly resold to the inhabitants of the towns within land, who make a return in the produce of the country, such as ginger, pepper, areka nuts, cocoa nuts, and their oil kyah ropes and yarn, and cotton cloth, which is very good and cheap : they have here a particular kind of towels, esteemed the best in India. Here are many Portuguese merchants, who who seem to engross most of the trade, and resell or export on their own account with great advantage, as many of them are rich; some few of the natives are also wealthy. There are here two towns, one bordering on the sea coast, and the other in the wood : the principal inhabitants of the former are Portuguese, those of the latter natives. Between the town and the fort is an extensive and airy open place, which affords an agreeable walk in the cool of the evening. On one side is a pleasant garden belonging to the chief, where the gentlemen of the factory sometimes pass a little time in walking in the evening. The chief has likewise a small garden adjoining his house, well kept, and amply stocked with flowers. There is a charming shady ride through the wood, where the chief and other gentlemen of the factory often take an airing in the evening on horseback, or in an open chaise, riding round the limits of their little territory from the fort to the southern boundary, the fort at Mile End, near which is an agreeable spot, where they usually meet to alight and converse : the whole extent of this agreeable ride does not exceed five miles.

Some few friends having a desire to visit the French settlement called Mahie, I was invited to be of the party. We left Tellicherry fort at four in the afternoon, and arrived at the French governor's (Monsieur Pico's) house, in the fort at Mahie, at seven. He had no intimation of our coming: however, as one of the company was acquainted with him, he introduced the rest, and we were kindly received. We had not day-light sufficient to-examine the place, as we wished for, though we made good use of our time; we were only able to walk about the which is pleasantly and strongly situated on an eminence. I am told that there are near two hundred cannon mounted in the fort and the adjacent works. The town we had not time to go to. This is the only French settlement on this side India, that at Surat, where the French have a consul, being only a comptoir, by permission of the English. We supped with the governor, and several of the principal gentlemen of the settlement, and at eleven set out for Tellichery, where we arrived at two in the morning. We were carried to and from Mahie in what they call here a doodle, which is like a hanging cot, used for sleeping on board of ships; they are stretched at length, and each end fastened to a long and large bamboo cane, which is carried on the shoulders of two men, who travel at the rate of four miles an hour, or more. Provisions of all kinds are good and reasonable at Tellicherry, the sea furnishing them with plenty of fish of many sorts. The oysters here are the largest and best of any on the coast of Malabar. Here our little convoy increased greatly, with whom we departed in the morning of the 24th of January."

Figure 7. Google Earth Image showing the probable location of the Mile End Fort, with the two 1730's French posts nearby.

Figure 8. Close up image of the probable site of the Mile End Fort,which is currently occupied by a water tower.

The outlying fortifications around Tellicherry seem to have been demolished during the 19th Century, but it is quite likely that at the site of the former fort at Mile End at least some of the footings or demolition rubble may still be present on this small hill around the water tower.

Has anybody ever visited the site?

[1]From photos in the Basel Mission Collection, preserved at the University of Southern California. This photo was taken by Christian Richter at some point between 1855 and 1860. See http://bmpix.org/bmpix/controller/view/impa-m34478.html
"An interesting part of the coast near the open space, which fives a good impression of the character of the coast. The overgrown platform belongs to the property of the deceased Mr. Brenner, Master Attendant of Tellicherry [reading of the last part of this sentence uncertain]. If you use your imagination you can see, in the tree hanging over the edge of the platform the sharp profile of an American Indian." (C.G. Richter's 3. Quarterly report 06.10.1860: 5)
[2] Travels in Asia and Africa; A Journey from Scanderoon to Aleppo, and over the Desert to Baghdad and Basra, by Abraham Parsons. Published 1808. Pages 226 & 227
[3] A general collection of voyages and travel, digested by J. Pinkerton.Pages 233 & 234.