A body of
trained artillerymen were told off for this service, and the
last-raised levies were posted in the castle and on the walls of the
town.
The position was so chosen that the flanks of the line rested on the
slopes on either side. These were broken by inclosures and gardens;
into which, on either side, half a battalion was thrown forward, so as
to deliver a flanking fire upon an enemy advancing against the centre.
Across the valley, two hundred yards in front of the position, the
stream which watered it made a sharp turn, running for some distance
directly across it, and several small canals for the irrigation of the
fields rendered the ground wet and swampy. Across the line occupied by
his troops, a breastwork had been thrown up, and in front of this rows
of sharp-pointed stakes had been stuck in the ground. Altogether, the
position was a formidable one.
An hour or two after the position so carefully prepared had been taken
up, large bodies of Mahratta horse were seen dashing up the valley,
and smoke rising from several points showed that they had begun their
usual work, of plundering and destroying the villages on their way. A
few discharges from the field pieces--those in the castle had been
ordered to be silent until the raising of a white flag gave them the
signal to open fire--checked the advance of the horsemen, and these
waited until their infantry should arrive.
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