Battle of Assaye

The Battle of Assaye was fought in 1803 during the Second Anglo-Maratha War. Arthur Wellesley’s smaller force attacked a larger Maratha army with strong artillery support and won after intense close fighting.

The battle mattered because it was one of Wellesley’s most difficult victories and a major step in the East India Company’s military expansion. It also demonstrated the danger of Indian battlefield warfare and the quality of Maratha resistance.

For historical fiction, Assaye gives a precise setting for sepoys, European officers, artillery, heat, confusion and the early career of the future Duke of Wellington.