Page:Our Indian Army.djvu/392

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368
OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY.

In the interior were numerous squares and courtyards, inclosed with high walls, and all defensible. The principal entrance or square in front had a double row of cannon facing the gate, and was flanked with newly-erected batteries, right and left. Seventeen thousand regular troops manned the works, and an armed population of more than a hundred thousand surrounded the palace for miles, and occupied the walls and fastnesses along the sides of the various roads.

But nothing could deter the Anglo-Indian Army, led on by the dauntless Gillespie. Two hours before day the leaders of columns received their orders, and instantly proceeded to execute them. The assault was made by escalade, and was completely successful. The British force quickly occupied the ramparts, and turned the guns of the enemy against himself. The Sultan was taken in his stronghold. He was subsequently deposed, and the hereditary prince raised to the throne. The other confederated princes readily acceded to the terms proposed to them: the conquest of Java was thus complete, and the British power was not only paramount in the island, but established throughout the East without a European rival.