… Action Saved a British Army.
"From October to December of 1814, the East India Company's army invading Nepal was plagued by failure. The expedition was supposed to be a demonstration of Anglo strength, but it encountered an unanticipated determination from the Nepalese people. Yet one forgotten young British officer managed to save Britain from additional humiliation, albeit at great personal cost. Here's his story.
BY 4 P.M. Major William Richards' column was nearly out of ammunition. The situation was becoming desperate as more than a thousand kukri-wielding Nepalese warriors grew ever bolder in their attacks amid the slacking British gunfire. Richards quickly scribbled a note to his commander, Major-General Gabriel Martindell, and ordered two sepoys to shed their uniforms and sneak through the jungle to deliver the message in person to the English headquarters in Nahan. This was the despairing situation 600 soldiers of the East India Company faced on Peacock Hill on Dec. 27, 1814.
As the crisis worsened, Richards ordered his troops to conserve fire until the attackers were within point-blank range. Even the column's surgeon, Mr. Darby, shouldered a weapon and helped to beat back each successive wave. During pauses in the fighting, pioneers frantically collected and piled stones to provide a defensive perimeter…"
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