On 4th May 1799, four thousand British and sepoy troops stormed Seringapatam, the fortress capital of Tipu Sultan - the Tiger of Mysore. In four brutal hours, over 1,500 British and sepoys were killed or wounded in one of the bloodiest assaults in the history of the British army in India. This is the story of the Battle of Seringapatam 1799, the climactic battle of the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War. Tipu Sultan was possibly the most formidable opponent the British ever faced in India. Unlike other Indian rulers, he understood that British expansion was fundamentally different - every treaty, every alliance was a step toward total control. After the humiliation of the Third Anglo-Mysore War, Tipu rebuilt his forces and sought allies, even corresponding with Napoleon in Egypt. When the British intercepted that correspondence, Governor-General Richard Wellesley had his pretext for war. The assault was spearheaded by the forlorn hope - a near-suicidal charge led by Sergeant Graham, who was shot dead as he crested the breach calling out his promised promotion: "Lieutenant Graham!" Behind him came Major-General David Baird, a man bent on revenge after spending 44 months in Tipu's dungeons, and a young Colonel Arthur Wellesley - the future Duke of Wellington. The breach wasn't a convenient gateway - it was a steep mound of rubble where men climbed over their own dead. British regiments including the 73rd and 74th Highlanders, the 12th Foot, and Swiss mercenaries of the de Meuron Regiment stormed the walls in the hottest part of the day. Tipu Sultan himself fought to the end with dual hunting rifles before falling near the Water Gate. Bernard Cornwell fans will recognize this as the climax of Sharpe's Tiger, though our story sticks to the historical facts. From Tipu's mechanical tiger (now in the V&A Museum) to the rockets that inspired "the rockets' red glare" in the American national anthem, discover how the storming of the Tiger's fortress changed the course of British India forever. Chapters: 0:00 Introduction 0:57 Tipu Sultan 3:40 The French 5:31 Richard Wellesley 6:53 4th Anglo-Mysore War 9:18 Seringapatam 11:17 Siege begins 11:56 Arthur Wellesley's Defeat 13:13 Tipu's Rockets 14:48 British Bombardment 16:10 A Bold Plan 17:27 General David Baird 19:24 Assault Plan 20:24 The Forlorn Hope 21:47 Battle of Seringapatam 25:18 Death of Tipu Sultan 27:16 Looting 28:35 Congreve Rockets 29:36 Aftermath
04 May 2026
Seringapatam 1799: Storming The Tiger's Fortress
Today is the 227th anniversary of the Battle of Seringapatam.
On 4th May 1799, four thousand British and sepoy troops stormed Seringapatam, the fortress capital of Tipu Sultan - the Tiger of Mysore. In four brutal hours, over 1,500 British and sepoys were killed or wounded in one of the bloodiest assaults in the history of the British army in India. This is the story of the Battle of Seringapatam 1799, the climactic battle of the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War. Tipu Sultan was possibly the most formidable opponent the British ever faced in India. Unlike other Indian rulers, he understood that British expansion was fundamentally different - every treaty, every alliance was a step toward total control. After the humiliation of the Third Anglo-Mysore War, Tipu rebuilt his forces and sought allies, even corresponding with Napoleon in Egypt. When the British intercepted that correspondence, Governor-General Richard Wellesley had his pretext for war. The assault was spearheaded by the forlorn hope - a near-suicidal charge led by Sergeant Graham, who was shot dead as he crested the breach calling out his promised promotion: "Lieutenant Graham!" Behind him came Major-General David Baird, a man bent on revenge after spending 44 months in Tipu's dungeons, and a young Colonel Arthur Wellesley - the future Duke of Wellington. The breach wasn't a convenient gateway - it was a steep mound of rubble where men climbed over their own dead. British regiments including the 73rd and 74th Highlanders, the 12th Foot, and Swiss mercenaries of the de Meuron Regiment stormed the walls in the hottest part of the day. Tipu Sultan himself fought to the end with dual hunting rifles before falling near the Water Gate. Bernard Cornwell fans will recognize this as the climax of Sharpe's Tiger, though our story sticks to the historical facts. From Tipu's mechanical tiger (now in the V&A Museum) to the rockets that inspired "the rockets' red glare" in the American national anthem, discover how the storming of the Tiger's fortress changed the course of British India forever. Chapters: 0:00 Introduction 0:57 Tipu Sultan 3:40 The French 5:31 Richard Wellesley 6:53 4th Anglo-Mysore War 9:18 Seringapatam 11:17 Siege begins 11:56 Arthur Wellesley's Defeat 13:13 Tipu's Rockets 14:48 British Bombardment 16:10 A Bold Plan 17:27 General David Baird 19:24 Assault Plan 20:24 The Forlorn Hope 21:47 Battle of Seringapatam 25:18 Death of Tipu Sultan 27:16 Looting 28:35 Congreve Rockets 29:36 Aftermath
On 4th May 1799, four thousand British and sepoy troops stormed Seringapatam, the fortress capital of Tipu Sultan - the Tiger of Mysore. In four brutal hours, over 1,500 British and sepoys were killed or wounded in one of the bloodiest assaults in the history of the British army in India. This is the story of the Battle of Seringapatam 1799, the climactic battle of the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War. Tipu Sultan was possibly the most formidable opponent the British ever faced in India. Unlike other Indian rulers, he understood that British expansion was fundamentally different - every treaty, every alliance was a step toward total control. After the humiliation of the Third Anglo-Mysore War, Tipu rebuilt his forces and sought allies, even corresponding with Napoleon in Egypt. When the British intercepted that correspondence, Governor-General Richard Wellesley had his pretext for war. The assault was spearheaded by the forlorn hope - a near-suicidal charge led by Sergeant Graham, who was shot dead as he crested the breach calling out his promised promotion: "Lieutenant Graham!" Behind him came Major-General David Baird, a man bent on revenge after spending 44 months in Tipu's dungeons, and a young Colonel Arthur Wellesley - the future Duke of Wellington. The breach wasn't a convenient gateway - it was a steep mound of rubble where men climbed over their own dead. British regiments including the 73rd and 74th Highlanders, the 12th Foot, and Swiss mercenaries of the de Meuron Regiment stormed the walls in the hottest part of the day. Tipu Sultan himself fought to the end with dual hunting rifles before falling near the Water Gate. Bernard Cornwell fans will recognize this as the climax of Sharpe's Tiger, though our story sticks to the historical facts. From Tipu's mechanical tiger (now in the V&A Museum) to the rockets that inspired "the rockets' red glare" in the American national anthem, discover how the storming of the Tiger's fortress changed the course of British India forever. Chapters: 0:00 Introduction 0:57 Tipu Sultan 3:40 The French 5:31 Richard Wellesley 6:53 4th Anglo-Mysore War 9:18 Seringapatam 11:17 Siege begins 11:56 Arthur Wellesley's Defeat 13:13 Tipu's Rockets 14:48 British Bombardment 16:10 A Bold Plan 17:27 General David Baird 19:24 Assault Plan 20:24 The Forlorn Hope 21:47 Battle of Seringapatam 25:18 Death of Tipu Sultan 27:16 Looting 28:35 Congreve Rockets 29:36 Aftermath
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