ff the western angle of the fort, against which it was evident that
the attack would be directed.

He knew that, if captured, there was little chance of his being
permitted to continue to reign; and had, indeed, made that prospect
more hopeless, by massacring all the English prisoners who had, by his
order, been brought in from the hill forts throughout the country on
his return to Seringapatam, after the repulse he had suffered in his
attack on the Bombay force.

On the 2nd of May, the batteries opened on the wall of the fort, near
its northwest angle; and so heavy was their fire that, by the evening
of the 3rd, a breach of sixty yards long was effected. General Harris
determined to assault on the following day. General Baird, who had,
for four years, been a prisoner in Seringapatam, volunteered to lead
the assault; and before daybreak 4,376 men took their places in the
advance trenches, where they lay down.

It was determined that the assault should not be made until one
o'clock, at which time Tippoo's troops, anticipating no attack, would
be taking their food, and resting during the heat of the day. The
troops who were to make the assault were divided into two columns
which, after mounting the breach, were to turn right and left,
fighting their way along the ramparts until they met at the other end.
A powerful reserve, under Colonel Wellesley, was to support them after
they had entered.

When the signal was given, the troops leapt from the trenches and,
covered by the fire of the artillery, which at the same moment opened
on the ramparts, dashed across the river, scaled the breach, and, in
six minutes from the firing of the signal gun, planted the British
flag on its crest.

Then the heads of the two columns at once started to fight their way
along the ramparts. At first the resistance was slight. Surprised and
panic stricken, the defenders of the strong works at this point
offered but a feeble resistance. Some fled along the walls. Some ran
down into the fort. Many threw themselves over the wall into the rocky
bed of the river. The right column, in less than an hour, had won its
way along the rampart to the eastern face of the fort; but the left
column met with a desperate resistance, for as each point was carried,
the enemy, constantly reinforced, made a fresh stand. Most of the
officers who led the column were shot down, and so heavy was the fire
that, several times, the advance was brought to a standstill.