home, whose unbiassed decision must ever constitute our most grateful reward, and prove at all times the highest object of our ambition. We have the honour to be, with the greatest respect, Honourable Gentlemen, Your most faithful obedient, and humble servants, (Signed) JoN. DUNCAN. THO. LECHMERE. Bombay Castle, 26th Dec. 1803. Inclosure in Letter from the Governor in Council of Bombay to the Secret Committee; dated the 26th December 1803; received overland the 27th April 1804. To the Hon. J. Duncan, Esq. Governor in Council. THE Governor General in Council has examined the correspondence which has passed between the Honourable the Governor of Bombay and the Honourable Major General Wellesley, on the subject of the arrangements for the defence of the province of Guzerat, since the communication to the Honourable the Governor of Bombay of the powers vested in the Honourable Major-General Wellesley, of the 26th June. 2. It is the intention of the Governor-General in Council, at an early opportunity, to communicate to the Honourable the Governor in Council, in detail, the Sentiments of this Government with respect to the arrangements adopted under the authority of the Government of Bombay, for the conduct of civil and military affairs in the province of Guzerat, and to the tenor of the Honourable the Governor's correspondence with the Honourable General Wellesley; in the mean time, the Governor General in Council deems it to be absolutely necessary to communicate to the Honourable the Governor in Council the result of his deliberations on the subject of that correspon dence. 3. The plan suggested by the Honourable Major General Wellesley, for the defence of the province of Guzerat, in his letter to the Honourable the Governor of the 2d of August, was extremely judicious, and entirely unex. ceptionable. It was indispensably necessary to the effectual exeçution of that plan, and to the vigo rous prosecution of our military operations in the Deccan, and strictly conformable to the Governor-General's orders and to the powers vested in Major-Gene ral Wellesley, and eventually in Lieutenant-General Stuart, by the Governor-General's instructions of the 26th June, that the general officer commanding the army destined to restore tranquillity to the Deccan should exercise the sole and exclusive controul over the troops in Guzerat during the war. 4. The authority of the Resident at Baroda, and the various inferior objects of minute detail enumerated by the Honourable the Governor of Bombay, should not have been opposed to the posi tive orders of this Government, and to the manifest exigency of the existing crisis of affairs. 5. The Governor-General in Council has observed with the deepest concern, that the alteration in the proposed arrangement, occasioned by the objections to that arrangement stated in the Honourable the Governor of Bombay's dispatch to Major-General Wellesley, under date the 23d of August, has in a great measure frustrated the plan of the Governor-General for the conduct of the campaign in the Deccan, by precluding that combination of an efficient and vigorous system of operations on the west of India, which it was the object of the Honourable Major-General Wellesley to establish, with a view not only to the defence of our western possessions, but to the prose cution of active hostilities against the enemy. 6. In the actual crisis of affairs, all local considerations and inferior details must yield to the important object of securing the accomplishment of a general system of defensive arrangements and active military operations, under the exclusive direction of the general officer commanding the main army in the Deccan, subject to the direct authority of the Governor General in Council. The attainment of this object suggested to the Governor General, the expediency of delegating to Major General Wellesley, and eventually to Lieutenant General Stuart, the extensive powers vested in those officers respectively by his Excellency's instructions of the 26th of June. 7. The Governor General in Council now positively orders and directs, that, in conformity to the plan proposed by the Honour able Major-General Wellesley, Colonel Murray be invested with the chief local military authority in the province of Guzerat, subject only to the controul of the Honourable Major-General Wellesley, or of the general officer commanding in the Deccan, and that all orders of a contrary tendency be immediately revoked, and the whole force in Guzerat placed exclusively under the orders of Colonel Murray, exempt from the interposition of any other local authority whatever. Under this arrangement, however, it will be the duty of Colonel Murray to communicate to the Govern ment of Bombay the measures which he may adopt under the authority of Major-General Wellesley, and the Honourable the Governor in Council will be pleased to transmit to Colonel Murray instructions to this effect. Neither the Resident at Baroda, nor any other civil authority whatever, is to be permitted to interfere in any degree with the troops under the command of Colonel Murray; the civil authorities in Guzerat will apply to Colonel Murray for such aid as they may require, which he will furnish if compatible with the service of the war. 8. The Governor General in Council further orders and directs, that the Governor in Council of Bombay do employ · the utmost dispatch in preparing, the whole body of the forces under the command of Colonel Murray for active operations in the field; and his Excellency in Council relies on the zeal, diligence, and ability of the Governor in Council of Bombay, that he will exert every endeavour to forward that important service by direct orders from Bombay, and by the united efforts of every department partment under the immediate inspection of the Governor in Council. 9. His Excellency in Council expects that the execution of this important service will not be entrusted to subordinate officers, or frustrated by conflicting authorities; but that he shall have the satisfaction of witnessing in the Government of Bombay a renewal of the same spirit of cordial co-operation, united with the due principles of subordination which accelerated the conclusion of the late glorious warin Mysore, and which cannot fail to crown the splendid and transcendent saccess of the present war with the blessings of a speedy, honour able, and sincere peace. 10. To attain this object, all local and temporary considera tions must be submitted to the paramount exigency of prosecuting the war with vigour, and of carrying our arms into the centre of the enemy's resources and power. The hands of our commanders in the field must be strengthened by every possible accession of power, and the skill, judgment, and heroic valour of our officers and troops, must not be frustrated by vexatious counteraction in subordinate official details, or by the minute and unseasonable pretensions of inferior civil authorities. 11. The Governor General in Council applied these principles with eminent success to the powers vested in General Harris during the late war in Mysore; and his Excellency in Council has applied the same principles, with the same happy result, to the pow. ers vested in General Lake during the present campaign. It was the intention of his Excellency in Council to have vested similar powers in Major-General Wellesley, with respect to every branch of that gallant, able, and illustrious officer's command; and, as far as relates to the authorities immediately subjected to the government of Fort St. George, the salutary views of his Excellency in Council have not been disappointed. 12. The Governor General in Council is assured, that the Honourable the Governor in Council of Bombay will form a correct judgment of the spirit and objects of the orders of this Government with regard to the military command in Guzerat during the present crisis; and that these orders will be obeyed with a degree of accuracy, alacrity, and zeal, answerable to the importance of the occasion. 13. On the active operations of the army of Guzerat, the speedy conclusion of peace now depends; and if the efficiency of that army should prove to be impaired by an erroneous conception of the orders of this Government, the Governor General in Council will deeply lament the causes of such an error, while the public service must severely suffer from its effects. By an exact obedience to the orders of this Government the Honourable the Governor in Council of Bombay will enable the Honourable Major General Wellesley to apply the forces in Guzerat to the completion of the brilliant career of his victories in the Deccan, and to the termination of the war. 14. The Governor General in Council orders and directs, that the Resident at Baroda do henceforth correspond directly with the Governor General in Council, through the secretary in the secre and and political department, in addition to his correspondence with the Governor in Council of Bombay. 15. The Governor General in Council also directs, that the officer commanding in Guzerat be ordered to correspond with the Governor-General in Council, through the secretary in the military department, in addition to his correspondence with the Government of Bombay, and with the general officer commanding in the Deccan. 16. The Governor General in Council directs, that no change be made in the command in Guzerat without the special orders of this Government, unless at the express recommendation of the general officer commanding in the Deccan. 17. The Governor General in Council has adverted to the copy of Colonel Murray's dispatch to General Nicolls, under date the 20th of October, inclosed in the letter from the Secretary to Government at Bombay, of the 30th of that month, communicating Colonel Murray's negotiations with the Bheels. The immediate conciliation of that class of people to the interests of the British government is of the highest importance in the present crisis of affairs, and was suggested with great judgment at an early period of time by the Honourable Major-General Wellesley; the Governor General in Council is therefore seriously concerned to observe, that the deviation noticed in the 5th preceding paragraph from the arrangements proposed by the Honourable Major-General Wellesley, bas occasioned a delay in the confirmation of the negotiations concluded by Colonel Murray, under the necessity of a previous reference to the authority of the Government of Bombay. The Governor General in Council now deems it necessary to direct, that Colonel Murray be empowered and instructed to conduct similar negotiations with the Bheels, or any other adjacent Chiefs or States, exclusively under the authority of Major-General Wellesley, subject to the orders of the Governor General in Council. 18. A copy of this dispatch will be transmitted to the Honourable Major General Wellesley, for his information and guidance. We have, &c. WELLESLEY. (Signed) G. H. BARLOW. G. UDNY. Fort William, 23d Nov. 1803. Remarks by the Government of Bombay. 1. The correspondence in question began by a letter from his Excellency the Most Noble the Governor General to the Governor of Bombay, of the 27th of June, inclosing one to the Ho nourable General Wellesley, vesting the latter with the general direction and controul of all the political and military affairs of the British government in the territories of the Nizam, of the Peishwa, and of the Mahratta States and Chiefs;" in the exercise of which the Government of this Presidency was desired to afford every practicable degree of assistance," and to transmit to the Resident at Baroda" (the capital of the Guickwar dominion in Guzerat) a copy of these instructions, with orders to conform conform to the directions he might receive from Major-General Wellesley ;" and by his Lordship's further commands of the 9th July, the Resident at Baroda was to be informed, that "the British troops, and those of our Allies, stationed in the dominions of the Guickwar, were to be considered to form a part of the army under Major-General WelJesley's command, which the Resident was to communicate to Lieutenant-Colonel Woodington, the officer locally in the command, with instructions to obey any orders from Major-General Wellesley; and that General Nicolls (the commanding officer of the forces) should instruct all the officers in command of troops on detached service under the authority of Bombay to consider themselves subject to the orders of Major-General Wellesley;" all which was immediately ordered accordingly. 2. Under date the 18th of July General Wellesley advised the Governor of Bombay, that "the troops serving in the territory of the Guickwar, being included in those placed under his command, he desired to be furnished with returns and other requisite information respecting them, as likewise with a sketch of the Guickwar's territory, and a topographi cal account of the country, and its communication with the seacoast and with the territories Jately ceded to the Company by the Peishwa, from the immediate contiguity of which last with the Guickwar country, it was the Major-General observed) absolutely necessary that the troops in the one should assist the troops of the other in case of need;" wherefore it was to be observed, "accordingly desirable, that the officer in command in the Company's territories, should commu nicate with him, and with the officer in command in the territories of the Guick war, and finally, that orders should be given to the commanding officer in the territories of the Guickwar to be prepared to attack Baroach without loss of time," all which was punctually done, (the instructions respecting Baroach having been anticipated by this government); and the Governor had the pleasure, under date the 23d of July, to forward to the Major-General not merely a return of the troops in the last-mentioned station, but under the two divisions of the Company's own territories of Bombay and of Surat, with every detailed information which he thought could prove useful to the General, who was on this occasion advised, that with Major Walker (the Resident at the Dur bar or count of Baroda) had hitherto rested the charge of autho rizing all movements of the British subsidized force in Guzerat, and (as directed by the Supreme Government, under date the 12th of September 1802) "the defence of the Rajah's dominions, the immediate commanding oftcer being Lientenant Colonel Woodington, to whom, however, this Government issued no orders as to the movement of the troops there, but through the Resident:" a system and observance which had produced sundry effects very advantageous in that quarter to the public service. 3. It was next explained to the Honourable General Wellesley, that the military at Surat, where-on are dependent the districts comprehended in that part of Guzerat |