Battle of Assaye 1803
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 23 September 1803 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1803 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
| Era | 19th century (1800–1913) | derived from year |
| Location | India | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Asia | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Second Anglo-Maratha War | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 20.2350, 75.8900 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Assaye was fought on 23 September 1803 during the Second Anglo-Maratha War between the British and Maratha empires. An outnumbered British army led by Major General Arthur Wellesley defeated a Maratha army under the command of Daulatrao Scindia and Raghoji II Bhonsle near Assaye in western India. The battle was Wellesley's first major victory and one he would later describe as his finest accomplishment on the battlefield, even more so than his more famous victories in the Peninsular War and his defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo.
In August 1803, Wellesley's army and a separate British force under the command of his subordinate Colonel James Stevenson began pursuing the Maratha army, which had threatened to raid south into Hyderabad. After several weeks of pursuit and counter-marching, Scindia reinforced the Maratha army with his Westernised infantry and artillery as the two British forces closed in on his position. Wellesley received intelligence indicating the location of the Maratha encampment on 21 September and devised a plan whereby his two armies would converge on the Maratha position three days later.
On 23 September, Wellesley's force encountered the Maratha army 6 miles (9.7 km) farther south than he anticipated.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Assaye (revision 1379327803), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
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Other battles of the Second Anglo-Maratha War
- Battle of Poona 1802
- Battle of Argaon 1803
- Battle of Delhi (1803) 1803
- Battle of Laswari 1803
- Siege of Ahmednagar (1803) 1803
- Siege of Aligarh 1803
- Battle of Deeg 1804
- Battle of Farrukhabad 1804
- Battle of Mukandwara Pass 1804
- Siege of Deeg 1804
All 13 battles of the Second Anglo-Maratha War →
Browse more: battles in India · Asia · 19th century battles