At last, the gate gave way.

The troops poured in, cheering loudly, and the enemy at once fled.
Many, however, took up their positions in the houses, and kept up a galling fire, until their places of refuge were stormed by detachments of troops, scattered through the town.

By nine o'clock all was over, and the town completely in the possession of the British.
Tippoo, furious at its having been so speedily captured, moved down early in the afternoon with a strong force of infantry; and, marching along by the side of the fort, endeavoured to force his way into the town through the open space at that end.

He was aided by the guns of the fort, while his artillery kept up a heavy cannonade upon the British encampment.
When the sultan was seen marching towards the town, with the evident intention of endeavouring to retake it, the 76th Regiment was sent in to reinforce the garrison; and the three battalions opposed so steady a resistance to Tippoo's infantry that the latter were forced to fall back, after sustaining a loss of five hundred men.

The troops began next morning to erect batteries.
The position was a singular one.