APATHY OF MADRAS GOVERNMENT
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at least 90,000 troops, and a vast treasure hoarded at Seringapatam.
Had the Madras Government at this juncture adopted energetic measures, it is probable that the defeat of the Mysore army would have ensued. But the veteran Sir Eyre Coote had been compelled by ill health to resign his command, and the Madras authorities, though aware of Haidar's death and of the difficulty which had arisen owing to the want of a leader for his troops, allowed a month to elapse before they ordered a force to the front to engage the enemy.
