Its walls were more than a mile in circumference, and were in a very bad state of repair.

The rampart was narrow and the parapet low, and the ditch, in many places, dry.

The fort had two gates.

These were in towers standing beyond the ditch, and connected with the interior by a causeway across it.

The houses in the town in many places came close up to the walls, and from their roofs the ramparts of the forts were commanded.
On the 23rd September Riza Sahib, with his army, took up his position before Arcot.