Page 190 - INDIANNAVYV1

158 HISTORY OF THE INDIAN NAVY.

Lieutenant-Cotnmander Pnien, was proceeding from Bombay to
Calicut, for the purpose of conveying some njilitary officers of
high rank to the British Army then operating in the Bednore
country, among the number being Brigadier-General Norman
McLeod,* appointed commander in-chief in place of General
Matthews, Colonel Humberstone, and Major Shaw, when she
fell in with the Mahratta fleet, commanded by the Peishwa's
Admiral, Aninid RaoDhoolnp, who, it appears, was unaware of
the conclusion of peace. Though this fleet consisted of two
ships, one ketch, all of superior force, and eight galivats, Lieu-
tenant Pruen did not hesitate a moment in engaging them ; he
might. Indeed, have soon satisfied the Mahrattas of their being
no longer enemies, but allies, or, at the worst, if compelled to
accompany them into the neighbouring port of Gheria, the
detention would have been brief, but, sailor-like, his predilection
for fighting, and his repugnance to strike his flag without having
first vindicated the honour of his country, overcame all scruples
and prudential considerations. There were also other reasons
for his deciding to fight. He had on board the newly-appointed
Commauder-in Chief of the British Army, and other officers of
distinction belonging to the King's service, and his heart's desire
was gratified at this opportunity of showing that a Company's
cruiser could fight as stoutly as a King's ship. The little
'Ranger,' accordingly, awaited her antagonists, and the military
officers armed for the impending conflict, into which they
entered with a spirit not less than that which animated the
ship's officers and crew.
A desperate action now ensued. First the large ships plied
the little brig with their guns, to which she replied with spirit,
and then the galivats were laid alongside, and it was sought to
overwhelm the handful of gallant Britons by throwing on her
decks as many boarders as could find foot room. But, though
the enemy mustered fifteen to one, and the Mahrattas were
renowned throughout India as swordsmen, the repeated attempts
were met and repulsed with a desperate tenacity of purpose that
has never been surpassed in the annals of war. Numbers,
however, told in the end, and, at length, the gallant little craft
was carried by a united rush of hundreds of men infuriated at
the prolonged resistance. On the decks lay Major Shaw dead,
and General McLeod, " who," says Grant Duff", " being disabled
in one arm, continued to fight until shot through the body, when

* Colonels McLeod and Humberstone, and Major Shaw had previously quitted
the army serving in the Beduore country and came up to Bombay in February,
iu order to prefer charges against General Matthews, who retaliated by a letter,
dated the 4th of March, "taxing the w^hole army, iu terms the most severe and
unqualified, but altogether general and indiscriminate, with offences of the highest
criminality." (See extract of a letter from tlie President and Select Committee at
Bombay, to the Secret Committee of tlie Court of Directors, dated the 27th of
Juue, 1783, and received overland on the 21st of November.)