When the Tiger Fought the Thistle by Alan Tritton

When the Tiger Fought the Thistle by Alan Tritton

The Battle of Pollilur on 10 September 1780, fought as part of the Second Anglo-Mysore War, was one of the worst defeats the British ever suffered on the Indian subcontinent. It was fought between a Brigade Column of the East India Company, led by Colonel William Baillie, and the Mysore Army, under the command of Haidar Ali and Tipu Sultan. Heavily outnumbered and wounded in battle, Baillie was taken prisoner and eventually died isolated and in captivity in Seringapatam, in the state of Karnataka near Mysore, on 13 November 1782. News of Pollilur aroused widespread consternation in England that India was lost, yet the news of Baillie's defeat and capture have been shrouded in mystery. Was Colonel Baillie really responsible for this military failure? What role did his contemporaries, such as General Sir Hector Munro of Novar who ws encamped a few miles away from the battle, play? In this engaging new biography, derived from fresh new research and archival material previously unseen, Alan Tritton presents the true story of William Baillie's life and death in India with the Madras Army of the East India Company covering the period 1760-1782. Overturning the consensus view of the disaster at Pollilur, Tritton provides an original angle in reassessing Colonel Baillie's blame for the defeat, and questions whether he should be remembered as a failure or, rather, a Scottish military hero. This book will prove essential reading for specialists and enthusiasts of British military and imperial history.

Alan Tritton was born in 1931, and educated at Eton College. He is Vice-President and Member of Council of the Royal Geographical Society. He established the Calcutta Tercentenary Trust to restore and conserve British and European Heritage paintings in Calcutta and was awarded the C.B.E. for his services to India and its cultural heritage in 1999. He is married, and has three children and ten grandchildren. He currently lives in Essex, and is Deputy Lieutenant for the County of Essex.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781780764375
ISBN 10	1780764375
Title	When the Tiger Fought the Thistle
Author	Alan Tritton
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Year published	2013-09-06
Number of pages	336
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note	Unavailable