British Military Campaigns 1802-1809

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The Second Anglo-Maratha War 1803–1805
The second conflict between the British East India Company and the Maratha Empire in India.

Battle of Aligarh (also known as the Battle of Ally Ghur)
1st September 1803
British East Indian Company commanded by General Lake defeats Maratha Army commanded by French mercenary officer Pierre Perron .
During the assault, fourteen ditches were lined with sword-blades and poisoned chevaux-de-frise around the fort by the French. The walls were reinforced with French artillery and tigers and lions of Scindia’s menagerie were also used by the French. During the battle, the British lost as many as 900 soldiers. The then Duke of Wellington declared the capture as "One of the most extraordinary feats'.

Battle of Delhi
11th September 1803
British East Indian Company commanded by General Lake defeats Maratha Army commanded by French General Bourquin. The city of Dehli is captured by British forces.

Battle of Assaye
23 September 1803
Outnumbered Indian and British force under the command of Major General Arthur Wellesley (who later became the Duke of Wellington) defeated a combined Confederacy army of Daulat Scindia and the Raja of Berar. The battle was the Duke of Wellington's first major victory and one he later described as his finest accomplishment on the battlefield. The British strength was 9,000 against the combined strength of 50,000 enemy and the battle was fierce, Wellesley later told a fellow officer that "I should not like to see again such a loss as I sustained on the 23rd September, even if attended by such a gain" and in later life he referred to Assaye as "the bloodiest for the numbers that I ever saw".

Battle of Laswari
1st November 1803
British East Indian Company commanded by General Lake defeats Maratha Army.

Battle of Gawilghur
15 December 1803
British East India Company commanded by Sir Arthur Wellesley captured the fort ending the war.

Walcheren Campaign 1809
The Walcheren Campaign was an unsuccessful British expedition to the Netherlands in 1809 intended to open another front in the Austrian Empire's struggle with France during the War of the Fifth Coalition. Around 40,000 soldiers, 15,000 horses together with field artillery and two siege trains crossed the North Sea and landed at Walcheren on 30 July. This was the largest British expedition of that year, larger than the army serving in the Peninsular War in Portugal. The Walcheren Campaign involved little fighting, but heavy losses from the sickness popularly dubbed "Walcheren Fever". Over 4,000 British troops died (only 106 in combat) and the rest withdrew on 9 December 1809.