"Died Battle of Pollilur" William Gunn Cut Signature From A Letter In His Hand

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"Died Battle of Pollilur" William Gunn Cut Signature From A Letter In His Hand:
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Up for sale a RARE! "Battle of Pollilur" William Gunn Clipped Signature From A Letter In His Hand.

ES-3966

William Gunn was born circa 1757 and died at Conjeveram, Mysore (now

Tamil Nadu), India, on 10 September 1780. William was the elder son from

the second marriage of Alexander Gunn of Badenloch and later of Wester

Helmsdale. We do not know William’s exact birthdate (although

his military enrolment document might show it if it could be found) nor the

date of his parents’ marriage. William joined (most likely through a

bought commission) the First Battalion of the 73rd (Highland) Regiment of as a lieutenant. It was raised in December 1777. The First

Battalion landed at Madras 20 January 1780. ‘Of the 19 lieutenants of

the 1st battalion (of the 73rd Regiment), William Gunn stood 15th... six feet

three’. William Gunn died in the Battle of Pollilur of

the Second Anglo-Mysore War of 1779-1784. It was a battle of importance; After

the treaty of Paris in 1763, the only serious political threats to the British

in the Madras area came from Hyder Ali and his son Tipu Sultan. During the war

of 1780, the prowess of Hyder Ali and his cavalry sometimes greatly intimidated

the British. In no situation was this more apparent than during the battle of

Pullalur, an area about ten miles north of Kanchipuram to the west of Madras.

This battle was fought by a British force under the command of Colonel John

Baillie against those of Hyder Ali and Tipu on 10 September 1780, shortly after

the beginning of the war. Various mistakes made by the British

commander-in-chief Sir Hector Munro and by Baillie himself resulted in the

isolation of Baillie’s force. Hyder Ali and Tipu, aided by the French, soundly

defeated Baillie’s forces: of the eighty-six officers in Baillie’s force who

participated, thirty-six were killed or died of their wounds, thirty-four were

wounded and taken prisoner, and sixteen were unwounded but taken prisoner. Though

the military encounter was brief, it had great consequences for the fortunes

and self-esteem of the British at the time and long afterwards. Moreover,

because the defeat placed in doubt the British ability to defend Madras,

Hyder’s rout of Baillie greatly decreased British political and economic

credibility... In other words, William Gunn was killed in a battle which

the British lost, to a significant extent because of British mistakes. He

was unfortunate; out of the British force of 3,820 only 336 were killed. The final result

of this war was the East India Company was told by the British government to

make peace with the Kingdom of Mysore and basically the status quo resumed. The

official view of the events involving William Gunn is simple – ‘Upon

this unfortunate occasion, the flank companies were almost annihilated. Capt.

Baird received seven wounds, and fell into the hands of the enemy. Lieut.

Lindsay received nine and was also made prisoner. Lieut. Lindsay was totally

disabled by his wounds; and Lieut. Gunn, of the grenadiers, and Lieut. Geddes

Mackenzie, of the light company, killed, being the sum total of the officers

serving at the time with the two companies. Of the non-commissioned officers

and privates, only two men joined the battalion, and those were found in the

jungle, desperately wounded. The melancholy fate of these companies rendered it

necessary for Lord M’Leod to form two new flank companies from the battalion’.