4 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
taken prisoner-of-war, whether they were storming fortresses or making tactical withdrawals, they always stood steadfast by their officers and comrades, never letting down the honour of their Regiments. The crowning glory of the Mahars was achieved on the New Year Day of 1818 on the hot and parched battlefield of Koregaon beside the bank of the rivers Bhima. A small force of 500 men of the 2nd Battalion 1st Regiment Bombay Native Infantry together with 250 men of the Poona Irregular Horse and two six-pounder guns with
24 European gunners of the Madras Artillery, under the command of Capt. F. F. Staunton, fought without rest or respite, food or water, continuously for twelve hours against a large force of 20,000 horses and 8,000 Infantry of Peshwa Baji Rao II who was threatening the British garrisons at Kirkee and Poona.
Capt. Staunton’s detachment had been rushed from Sirur on the evening of December 31 to held the Poona garrison. Marching throughout the night, covering a distance of about 27 miles, the detachment had arrived at Koregaon on the morning of 1st January 1818 to witness a frightening array of the famous Maratha Horse. Capt. Staunton had hardly prepared his defences when three detachments of the Peshwa’s Infantry, each about 600 strong, had advanced simultaneously from three directions. They were supported by two guns and the advance was covered by a continuous barrage of rockets. In spite of the gallant efforts of the Poona Irregular Horse, the entire British force at Koregaon was encircled by the Maratha Cavalry and Infantry and all accesses to the river were cut off. The assaulting parties came in force and pushed their way into the heart of the village seizing some strong and commanding positions from which it was impossible to dislodge them. There was severe hand-to-hand fighting for each house, hut, and street, and the British were suffering heavy losses. But they would not give up and the Indian Sepoys, many Mahars, held on doggedly, fighting tenaciously and with magnificent courage. Capt. Staunton asked his men to fight to the last man and the last bullet. The Mahars showed tremendous intrepidity and continued to battle with the utmost