Description

The siege of Bednore was a battle of the Second Anglo-Mysore War. The British had captured Bednore and other strongholds in the Malabar coast from Mysore in early 1783, while the Mysore leader, Tipu Sultan, was leading his army on campaign in the Carnatic. The British commander, Brigadier-General Richard Matthews, formed a small garrison of 1,600 men at Bednore and split the remainder of the force into detachments to plunder the surrounding region. Tipu Sultan brought his army of more than 100,000 men west and managed to approach within 6 kilometres (4 mi) of Bednore undetected by 9 April. Matthews deployed his troops in the field outside of Bednore and was swiftly defeated. Matthews abandoned the town and retreated to the fort which was quickly besieged by the Mysore army.