Battle of Bharatpur

Overview

The siege of Bharatpur took place between 2 January and 22 February 1805 in the Indian Princely state of Bharatpur, during the Second Anglo-Maratha War. Forces of the British East India Company, led by General Gerard Lake, were repulsed four times in their attempts to storm the fortress.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Significance

The siege of Bharatpur, fought between January and February 1805, was a significant British reversal during the Second Anglo-Maratha War. General Gerard Lake's East India Company force of 18,000 launched four successive assaults on the fortress and was repulsed each time, sustaining over 3,000 casualties without taking the position. The defense was conducted by the forces of Bharatpur State under Ranjit Singh, with Yashwantrao Holkar also present. The failure demonstrated that even a numerically superior British force could be checked by a well-defended Indian fortification, and it stands as one of the more costly unsuccessful siege operations of the war.

Forces & casualties

Commanders (3)