in 1768. In 1769 he was again appointed commander-in-chief in the Madras presidency, but he soon found that he could not get on with the governor of Madras, Josias Du Pré, so he abruptly threw up his command and came back to England by the overland route through Egypt, which he was one of the first to adopt, in October 1770. The king and the court of directors expressed approval of Coote's conduct; he was invested a K.B. on 31 Aug. 1771, promoted major-general on 29 Sept. 1775, made colonel of the 27th regiment in 1771 and of the Inniskillings on 19 Feb. 1773, was M.P. for Poole 1774–80, and finally appointed commander-in-chief in India on 17 April 1777, being promoted lieutenant-general on 29 Aug.
Coote assumed the command-in-chief at Calcutta on 25 March 1779, in the place of General Clavering, and Warren Hastings at once attempted to win him over to his side in the internecine conflict between himself and certain members of his council at Calcutta. It was one of the articles in the impeachment of Hastings that he had worked upon the general's reputed avarice by allowing him 18,000l. a year field allowances, even when not actively employed, in addition to his salary of 16,000l. a year. There is little doubt that Hastings did make use of his knowledge of Coote's weakness, and that he saddled the Nabob of Oude with the payment of this additional sum. Coote, however, was not a man to be bribed, and his temper was too like that of Hastings himself to permit of opposition to the governor-general. Hyder Ali, who had made himself rajah of Mysore, rushed like a whirlwind over the Carnatic, and by his defeat and capture of Colonel Baillie at Parambakam had Madras at his mercy. Warren Hastings at once suspended Governor Whitehill, and despatched Coote with full powers and all the money he could spare to Madras, while he ordered all the troops available to march down the coast under the command of Colonel Pearse. Coote reached Madras on 5 Nov. 1780, and on 17 Jan. 1781 marched northwards from Madras with all the troops he could muster, in order to draw Hyder Ali after him. His march was successful, and he raised the siege of Wandewash; but Hyder Ali, artfully enticing him further by threatening Cuddalore, induced him to march on that city, when the Mahometan suddenly interposed his great army between Coote and his supplies and base of action at Madras. Coote's position at Cuddalore would have been desperate if the French admiral d'Orves had kept him from receiving supplies from the sea, for the Nabob of Arcot was playing a double part and really deceiving his English allies; but fortunately d'Orves soon sailed away and left Sir Edward Hughes in command of the sea. Yet Coote's position at Cuddalore was very precarious; he could not bring Hyder Ali to an action, and his men were losing courage. On 16 June he left Cuddalore, and on the 18th he attacked the pagoda of Chelambakam, but was repulsed, and he then retreated to Porto Novo, close to the sea, to concert measures for a new attack on the pagoda with Admiral Hughes. Then Hyder Ali came out to fight; the repulse at Chelambakam had been greatly exaggerated, and he thought himself sure of an easy victory. Coote was at once told that the enemy was fortifying himself only seven miles off, and he called a council of war, which, even when he pointed out that defeat meant the loss of the Madras presidency, unanimously decided to fight. Coote accordingly marched out at 7 a.m. on the morning of 1 July 1781 with 2,070 Europeans and six thousand sepoys, and found Hyder Ali with forty thousand soldiers and many camp-followers in a strong position resting on the sea, defended by heavy artillery. Coote examined the position for an hour under a heavy fire, and then ordered Major-general James Stuart to turn the enemy's right upon the sandhills and attack him in flank. Stuart advanced at 4 p.m. and was twice repulsed, but at last, aided by the fire of an English schooner, he was successful. Coote then ordered his first line under Major-general Munro to advance, and Hyder Ali was utterly defeated. Coote followed up his great victory by a series of successes. He joined Pearse at Pulicat on 2 Aug.; he took Tripassoor on 22 Aug.; and, with his army increased to twelve thousand men, he stormed Parambakam on 27 Aug., and defeated Hyder Ali on the very spot where but a year before he had captured Colonel Baillie's force. He continued his successes until 7 Jan. 1782, defeating Hyder Ali in four more regular engagements, and retaking fortresses from him, and then he was forced by ill-health to return to Bengal, handing over the command of the troops to Major-general James Stuart. His stay in Calcutta partially restored his health, but on his way back to Madras the ship he sailed in was chased by a French cruiser, which so upset his enfeebled frame that he died, two days after reaching Madras, on 26 April 1783. The victory of Porto Novo as surely saved Madras from Hyder Ali as Wandewash had saved it from Lally. Coote's body was brought back from India, and landed at Plymouth with great pomp on 2 Sept.; it was interred at
