(A. D. 1750.) The government of Fort St.
David had been assumed by Mr. Saunders, a
man of sound sense and unconquerable firmness.
Nothing could be more alarming than the situation
in which he found the affairs of the Company.
He saw immediately, that, unless Mahommed Ali
was effectually supported, the Carnatic would fall
into the possession of Chunda Sahib, from whom
the Company could expect no favour; and the
probability of this happening was greater, from
the recent success of that chief, in obtaining
possession of Madura, which literally confined
Mahommed Ali to the single possession of Trichinopoly;
almost every other place having acknowledged
the authority of his rival. The government
of Fort St. David had sent to the aid of
Mahommed Ali a body of 600 men under Captain
Cope; but the failure of an attempt made by this
party to recover Madura depressed still more
the spirits of the adherents of their ally, who was
soon besieged by the united forces of Chunda
Sahib and the French. This desperate state of
his fortunes led to the renewal of his efforts to
obtain more efficient aid from the English, to
whom he not only offered a considerable territory
contiguous to Madras, but agreed to pay
the expenses of all the troops employed in his
support. These offers, and the certain ruin in
which the success of Chunda Sahib must involve
the Company, would hardly have roused the
Committee of Fort St. David, unauthorised as
they were by their instructions from England,
to depart from their neutrality, had not Dupleix
insulted their forbearance by planting white flags,
(to denote that they were French property) in
almost every field[37] around their boundary, and
some even within their limits.
The English troops on the coast were, at
this period, much inferior in numbers to the
French; and by an inexplicable confidence in
the continuance of peace, Colonel Lawrence,
whose character and experience constituted a
great part of their military strength, had been
permitted to return to England on private affairs.
Notwithstanding these circumstances, Mr. Saunders
determined to make an attempt to relieve
Trichinopoly; and a body of 500 Europeans,
100 Caffres, and 1000 sepoys was detached
under Captain Gingen, to join the party already
in that garrison. Their march was delayed several
weeks, to allow them to be joined by a party
of Mahommed Ali's troops, the Committee being
desirous to avoid appearing as principals in this
war; choosing, like the French, rather to have
their forces considered as mercenaries in the pay
of the native prince whom they supported.
Clive, who had alternately been charged with
civil and military duties, as the exigencies of the
public service required, had resumed the civil
branch of the service, soon after the reduction
of Devecotta (A. D. 1749), when the pacification
with the Rajah of Tanjore produced a temporary
cessation from military operations; and was
admitted to the same rank that he would have
held, had he never quitted it. By the active
friendship of Major Lawrence, he was appointed
commissary for supplying the European troops
with provisions. He had not been long settled
at Madras, when a fever of the nervous kind
attacked his constitution, and so much affected
his spirits, that the constant presence of an attendant
became necessary. For this complaint,
which was accompanied with a hard swelling at
the pit of his stomach, he went to Bengal during
the cold season, and returned with his health
much improved; but the hardship and fatigue
which he soon after underwent in the field, while
his health was yet imperfectly re-established,
tended so much to shake his constitution, that,
during the remainder of his life, except when his
mind was actively engaged, the oppression on his
spirits frequently returned.[38] In his official capacity
of commissary, he now proceeded with
Captain Gingen to Trichinopoly. (A. D. 1751,
May.) As he did not then hold any station as a
soldier, no share can be attributed to him in the
disgraceful affair at Volconda[39], where the British
troops were discomfited, more by the irresolution
and want of judgment of their officers[40], than by
the efforts or ability of their adversaries.
They retreated to Trichinopoly, pursued and
harassed by the enemy, of whom there appears
to have been such a dread, that they did not
even occupy the pagoda of Seringham[41], though
the strength of that post, and its vicinity to
Trichinopoly, rendered it as tenable as it was
important. It was instantly taken possession of
by the French, and their ally Chunda Sahib,
who thus, under the most favourable auspices,
commenced their operations on a scene destined
to be that of their ultimate defeat. There were
at this period so few English officers of any experience,
that the governor was compelled to
send one of the members of council (Mr. Pigot),
a man of known firmness and judgment, in charge
of some recruits and stores to Trichinopoly.
Clive, who had returned to Fort St. David, from
Volconda, accompanied this party. On their way
back from this service, these two gentlemen, who
had an escort of but twelve sepoys, were attacked
by a body of polygars, who with matchlocks
harassed them in their march for some
hours, and killed seven of the sepoys; when, the
ammunition of the survivors being expended,
they were ordered to disperse, and Mr. Pigot
and Clive only saved themselves by the fleetness
of their horses. Another small reinforcement
was sent soon afterwards through Tanjore,
in charge of Clive, promoted on this occasion to
the rank of captain, which, after a sharp affair
with a French detachment, succeeded in reaching
Trichinopoly in safety. But Clive, on his
return from that place, drew such a picture of the
situation of the garrison, that the governor was
satisfied the cause of Mahommed Ali could be
saved only by efforts more considerable than any
that had been yet made. Clive suggested, that,
as Chunda Sahib had drawn away almost all his
forces to invest Trichinopoly, an attack should
be made upon his capital (Arcot). This suggestion
was adopted; and he was, at his own
request, nominated to the conduct of an enterprise,
which, whether we consider the means
employed, the obstacles to be surmounted, or the
results that were produced, must ever rank high
in the list of those achievements, where skill and
energy supply the place of numbers; and, mocking
every calculation, compel fortune, however
reluctant, to pay homage to superior genius. But
the capture and defence of Arcot forms too important
a feature in the life of Clive to be slightly
passed over; and as no man can ever give so
clear and so eloquent a relation of this operation
as the historian[42], who may almost be called
an eye-witness of the actions he so admirably
described, no apology is necessary for adopting
his narrative; which, in its very minuteness, is as
interesting as it is instructive; and, while it conveys
a lesson to the mere European soldier, paints
in true and vivid colours all that belongs to the
character of the yet unimproved system of
Asiatic warfare.
"The English battalion at Trichinopoly," says
Orme, "did not exceed 600 men; whereas the
French had 900, and the troops of Chunda Sahib
outnumbered the Nabob's ten to one. The
strength of the city, indeed, rendered the reduction
of it very difficult; but the Nabob's army, at
the same time that they were incapable of retrieving
his affairs, exhausted his treasures, and his
revenues were daily cut off by the enemy taking
possession of the countries which furnished them.
"Captain Clive, on his return from Trichinopoly
in the beginning of August, represented
this situation of affairs to the Presidency, and
proposed, as the only resource, to attack the
possessions of Chunda Sahib in the territory of
Arcot; offering to lead the expedition himself,
which, he doubted not, would cause a diversion
of part of the enemy's force from Trichinopoly.
Fort St. David and Madras were left, the one
with 100, the other with less than 50 men, in
order to supply the greatest force that could be
collected for this enterprise. The detachment,
when completed, nevertheless, consisted of no
more than 300 sepoys and 200 Europeans, with
eight officers, six of whom had never before
been in action; and four of these six were young
men in the mercantile service of the Company,
who, inflamed by his example, took up the
sword to follow him. This handful of men,
with only three field-pieces for their artillery,
marched from Madras on the 26th of August,
and on the 29th arrived at Conjeveram, a considerable
town, with a large pagoda, lying about
forty miles inland, where they received intelligence
that the fort of Arcot was garrisoned by
1100 men; on which Captain Clive wrote word
to Madras, desiring that two eighteen-pounders
might be sent after him without any delay. On
the 31st he halted within ten miles of Arcot,
where the enemy's spies reported, that they had
discovered the English marching with unconcern
through a violent storm of thunder, lightning,
and rain: and this circumstance, from
their notions of omens, gave the garrison so
high an opinion of the fortitude of the approaching
enemy, that they instantly abandoned
the fort, and a few hours after the English entered
the city, which had no walls or defences,
and marching through 100,000 spectators, who
gazed on them with admiration and respect,
took possession of the fort, in which they found
a large quantity of lead and gunpowder, with
eight pieces of cannon, from four to eight-pounders.
The merchants had, for security, deposited
in the fort effects to the value of 50,000l.;
but these were punctually restored to the owners;
and this judicious abstemiousness conciliated
many of the principal inhabitants to the
English interest. The fort was inhabited by
3000 or 4000 persons, who, at their own request,
were permitted to remain in their dwellings.
"Captain Clive made it his first care to collect
such provisions and materials as might
enable him to sustain a siege; and foreseeing
that the enemy would soon recover from their
flight and return into the town, if he confined
himself to the fort, determined to go in quest
of them; and on the 4th of September marched
out with the greatest part of his men and four
field-pieces. In the afternoon he discovered the
fugitive garrison, consisting of 600 horse and
500 foot, drawn up near Timery, a fort situated
six miles south-west of the city. They had a
field-piece managed by two or three Europeans,
from which they fired at a great distance, and
killed a camel and wounded a sepoy; but as
soon as they saw the English within musket-shot,
retreated to the hills in the rear; upon
which the English returned to the fort.
"The troops marched out again on the 6th,
and found the enemy drawn up within gun-shot
of Timery, in a grove, enclosed with a bank and
a ditch, about fifty yards in front of which was
a large tank, surrounded likewise with a bank
much higher than that of the grove; but by age
and neglect the tank itself was almost choked
up and dry. Their number now appeared to be
2000, and they had two field-pieces, which
fired smartly as the English advanced, and killed
three Europeans; on which accident the line
advanced more briskly towards the enemy, who,
frightened by the vivacity of their approach, did
not think themselves safe in the grove, but hurried
with precipitation into the tank, and began
to fire from the banks, exposing so little of their
bodies that the English fire did no execution
amongst them, whilst theirs wounded several of
the Europeans and sepoys. The troops were
ordered, therefore, to move behind some neighbouring
buildings, from which Ensign Glass
was soon after detached with a platoon of forty
men to attack one side of the tank, whilst another,
under the command of Lieutenant Bulkley,
pushed to attack the enemy in front. Both
gained the banks, and gave their fire at the same
instant amongst numbers crowded together in
the tank, which immediately put them to flight.
The troops then took possession of the village
under the walls of the fort, and summoned the
governor. Messages passed, during which his
spies discovered that the English had no battering
cannon, which intelligence determined him
not to surrender. Several shells were therefore
thrown into the fort from a cohorn mortar,
which proved ineffectual. The troops marched
back to Arcot, and the enemy's cavalry hovered
round them as they retreated, but kept out of
the reach of their fire.
"The garrison remained in the fort ten days,
diligently employed in many necessary works;
and the enemy, now augmented to 3000 men,
imputing this intermission of their sallies to fear,
encamped within three miles of the town, giving
out that they intended to besiege the fort. Captain
Clive determined to take advantage of their
security, and on the 14th of September marched
out two hours after midnight, with the greatest
part of his garrison, and entering their camp by
surprise, found them, as he expected, asleep.
The troops beat up the camp from one end to the
other, firing continually on numbers taking flight
on all sides with shrieks and confusion. The
terror was so great that very few made use of
their arms, and even those few, after a single discharge
made at random, mingled with the rest of
the fugitives; and when the day broke, none of
them remained in sight. This success was obtained
without the loss of a man.
"The two eighteen-pounders, which had been
demanded from Madras, with some military
stores, were at this time on the road, but escorted
only by a few sepoys; and the enemy, hoping to
intercept them, sent a large detachment, which
took possession of the great pagoda of Conjeveram.
Thirty Europeans and fifty sepoys, with
a field-piece, were sent from the fort to dislodge
them, and, on their arrival found the pagoda
abandoned; the enemy having retreated to a
fort in the neighbourhood, where they were
continually reinforced from the main body.
Much depending on the safe arrival of the convoy,
Captain Clive, reserving only thirty Europeans
and fifty sepoys for the guard of the fort, sent all
the rest to strengthen the detachment which
escorted it. On this the enemy changed their
design, and returned hastily to the city, in expectation
that an assault, made on the fort
during the absence of a great part of the garrison,
would encourage the inhabitants to rise; and, in
this confidence, their whole force, horse and
foot, advanced as soon as it was dark, and surrounded
the fort. Their musketry, from the
adjacent houses, kept a continual fire upon the
ramparts; and this attack producing no effect, a
large body of horse and foot advanced promiscuously
to the outer gate, endeavouring, by outcries,
and the noise of their military music, to
confound the attention of the garrison, from
which they sustained several discharges of musketry
without quitting their ground. At last
some grenades were thrown amongst them, the
explosion of which, frightening the horses, flung
their cavalry into such confusion that they galloped
away, trampling over the foot: but within
an hour they recovered their spirits, and made
such another attack at the other gate, where
they were received and beaten off as at the first.
Their infantry continued their fire until daybreak,
when the English detachment with the
convoy entered the town; upon which they
abandoned it with precipitation.
"The inhabitants in the fort, satisfied with
the treatment they had received from the garrison,
betrayed no symptoms of insurrection
during the attack.
"The acquisition of the fort of Arcot soon
produced the effect which had been expected
from it. Chunda Sahib detached 4000 of his
troops, horse and foot, from Trichinopoly, who,
in their route, were joined by his son Rajah Sahib
with 150 Europeans from Pondicherry, and,
together with the troops already collected in the
neighbourhood of Arcot, entered the city on the
23d of September, and Rajah Sahib fixed his
head-quarters in the palace of the Nabob.
"Captain Clive, finding himself on the point
of being closely besieged, determined to make
one vigorous effort to drive the enemy out of the
town, which, if it did not succeed, might at
least produce the good effect of impressing them
with an opinion of the courage of his men. On
the 24th at noon, the greatest part of the garrison,
with the four field-pieces, sallied out of the
north-west gate: this faced a street, which, after
continuing about seventy yards in a direct line
to the north, turned off to the east, and formed
another street, at the end of which, on the left
hand, was situated the Nabob's palace. This
fronted another street, which, striking to the
south, continued on the eastern side of the fort.
The square interval between these three streets
and the northern wall of the fort was filled with
buildings and enclosures. Captain Clive, intending
to place the enemy between two fires, ordered
a platoon under the command of Ensign Glass to
march up the street on the eastern side of the
fort, which led up to the palace, and advancing
himself, with the main body, along the street
leading from the north-west gate, found the
French troops, with four field-pieces, drawn up
at the end of the cross street in front of the
palace. Captain Clive's party no sooner came in
sight of them, than a hot cannonade ensued in the
cross street, at the distance of only thirty yards.
The French in a few minutes were driven from
their guns, and ran into the palace; but by this
time the troops of Rajah Sahib had taken possession
of all the houses in the street; and
secure under this cover, kept up a continual fire
from their musketry, with such good aim, that
fourteen men, who pushed to bring away the
French guns, were all either killed or wounded.
There was on one side of the street a large
choultry: these are buildings intended for the
reception of travellers, covered, and enclosed
on three sides with walls, but open in front,
where, instead of a wall, the roof is supported
by pillars.
"Captain Clive, to preserve his men, relinquished
the intention of bringing off the enemy's
cannon, and ordered them to enter the choultry;
from hence the artillery-men, stepping out and
retreating into it, immediately after they performed
the services allotted to each of them,
continued to load and fire their field-pieces,
until they had recoiled into the north street.
The troops then, quitting the choultry, joined
their guns, and proceeded to the fort without
meeting any further molestation. Ensign Glass's
platoon returned at the same time: these had
encountered, and put to flight three or four
hundred of the enemy's sepoys, whom they
found posted as an advanced guard in an inclosure
adjoining to the street through which
they intended to pass to the palace; where, by
this interruption, they were prevented from arriving
in time to render the service expected
from them. The garrison suffered this day the
loss of fifteen Europeans, who were either killed
on the spot, or died afterwards of their wounds:
amongst them was lieutenant Trenwith, who,
perceiving a sepoy from a window taking aim at
Captain Clive, pulled him on one side; upon
which the sepoy, changing his aim, shot lieutenant
Trenwith through the body. Lieutenant
Revel, the only artillery officer, with sixteen
other men, was likewise disabled. This sally
would be condemned by the rules of war established
in Europe, for they forbid the besieged
to run such a risk, unless they are assured of
greatly outnumbering the party they attack;
but it is not reasonable to strain the rules calculated
for one system to the service of another
differing so widely from it, as the modes of war
in Hindustan differ from those in Europe.
"The next day Rajah Sahib was joined by 2000
men from Vellore, commanded by Mortaza Ali
in person; and took possession of all the avenues
leading to the fort, which seemed little capable
of sustaining the impending siege. Its extent
was more than a mile in circumference; the walls
were in many places ruinous; the rampart too
narrow to admit the firing of artillery; the parapet
low and slightly built; several of the towers
decayed, and none of them capable of receiving
more than one piece of cannon; the ditch was
in most places fordable, in others dry, and in
some choked up; there was between the walls of
the fort and the ditch a space, about ten feet
broad, intended for a fausse-braye; but this had no
parapet at the scarp of the ditch. The fort had
two gates, one to the north-west, the other to
the east: both of them were large piles of masonry,
projecting forty feet beyond the walls; and
the passage from these gates was, instead of a
drawbridge, a large causeway crossing the ditch.
The garrison had, from their arrival, employed
themselves indefatigably to remove and repair as
many of these inconveniences and defects as the
smallness of their number could attend to. They
had endeavoured to burn down several of the
nearest houses, but without success; for these,
having no wood-work in their construction, excepting
the beams which supported the ceiling,
resisted the blaze; of these houses the enemy's
infantry took possession, and began to fire upon
the ramparts, and wounded several of the garrison
before night, when they retired. At midnight
Ensign Glass was sent with two men, and some
barrels of gunpowder, to blow up the two houses
which most annoyed the fort. This party was
let down by ropes over the wall, and, entering the
houses without being discovered, made the explosion,
but with so little skill, that it did not
produce the intended effect. At their return, the
rope by which Ensign Glass was getting into the
fort broke, and he was by the fall rendered incapable
of further duty; so that, at the beginning
of the siege, the garrison was deprived of the
service of four of the eight officers who set out
on the expedition; for one was killed, two
wounded, and another returned to Madras; and
the troops fit for duty were diminished to 120
Europeans and 200 sepoys; these were besieged
by 150 Europeans, 2,000 sepoys, 3,000 cavalry,
and 5,000 peons.
"The store of provisions in the fort was only
sufficient to supply the garrison sixty days, which
rendered it necessary to send away all the inhabitants,
excepting a few artificers; and the
enemy permitted them to pass through their
guard without molestation. Amongst those who
remained was a mason, who had been for many
years employed in the fort. He gave information
that there was an aqueduct under ground, known
to very few, but which, if discovered by the
enemy, would enable them to drain the only
reservoir of water in the fort. The man was rewarded
for this seasonable intelligence, and
employed to prevent the mischief by choking up
a part of the aqueduct within the walls. For
fourteen days the enemy, not yet furnished with
battering cannon, carried on the siege by firing
from the houses with musketry, and a bombardment
from four mortars. The bombardment
did but little damage; and, to avoid the effect of
the musketry, none of the garrison were suffered
to appear on the ramparts, excepting the few
immediately necessary to avoid a surprise; but,
notwithstanding this precaution, several were
killed, and more wounded: for the enemy,
secure in the houses, and firing from resting-places,
took such excellent aim, that they often
hit a man when nothing but his head appeared
above the parapet; and in this manner three serjeants
were killed, who at different times singly
accompanied Captain Clive in visiting the works.
Mortaza Ali, a few days after his arrival, pretended
to be dissatisfied with Rajah Sahib, and
removed his troops to a different part of the
city, from whence he sent a messenger inviting
the garrison to make a sally on the quarters of
Rajah Sahib, in which he offered to assist them
with his whole force. Captain Clive mistrusted
his professions; but, considering the advantage of
keeping such a number of the enemy's troops
inactive, pretended to approve of the proposal,
and carried on for several days a correspondence,
until Mortaza Ali, suspecting his scheme
was detected, rejoined the army.
"On the 24th of October, the French troops
received from Pondicherry two eighteen-pounders,
and seven pieces of smaller calibre, and immediately
opened a battery to the north-west, which
was so well served, that their very first shot dismounted
one of the eighteen-pounders in the fort,
and the next entirely disabled it. The garrison
mounted the other eighteen-pounder; and this,
after a few shot, was likewise dismounted; after
which, it was employed only in such parts of the
fort, where it was not exposed to the enemy's
artillery. The three field-pieces were likewise
cautiously reserved to repulse the enemy when
they should storm; so that their battery, firing
without much opposition, in six days beat down
all the wall lying between two towers, and made
a practicable breach of fifty feet.
"In the meantime, the garrison were employed
in making works to defend it. A trench was dug
just under the rampart, and behind that, at some
distance, another; both of which were scattered
with crows'-feet, and behind them the walls of a
house were pulled down to the height of a breast-work,
from whence a row of palisadoes was carried
along on each end of both trenches, and
continued up the rampart to the parapet. A field-piece
was planted on one of the towers which
flanked the breach without, and two small pieces
of cannon on the flat roof of a house within the
fort, opposite to the entrance. In these employments,
as, indeed, in all others, the officers contributed
their labour equally with the common
men; and the enemy, informed of these preparations
to defend the breach, did not think it
safe to attack it before they had made another.
They had by this time burst one of their eighteen-pounders,
and removed the other, with one
nine-pounder, to a battery which they erected
to the south-west.
"The garrison, intending to convince Rajah
Sahib that they were in a condition to execute
even labours not indispensably necessary, thickened
the highest tower of the ramparts, and then
raised on the top of it a mound of earth, to such
a height as commanded the palace, over the
interjacent houses. On the top of this mound
they hoisted a vast piece of cannon, sent, according to
the tradition of the fort, from Delhi, by
Aurungzebe, and said to have been drawn by
1000 yoke of oxen. There were several iron
balls belonging to it, each weighing seventy-two
pounds. The cannon was laid on the mound,
and loaded with thirty pounds of powder, which
was fired by a train carried to a considerable
distance on the ground. The shot went through
the palace, to the no small terror of Rajah Sahib
and his principal officers; and, as this was the
only effect intended, the cannon was fired only
once in the day, at the time when the officers
assembled at the head-quarters: on the fourth
day it burst.
"The enemy, as if they intended to retaliate
this affront, filled up a large house, which commanded
the eastern gate, with earth well rammed
down, and upon this base raised a square mound of
earth to such a height as commanded not only
the gate, but likewise every part within the fort.
From hence, they intended to fire on the rampart
with musketry and two small pieces of cannon.
They were suffered to go on with their work
until they had completed it and mounted the
cannon; when the garrison began to fire from the
reserved eighteen-pounder, and in less than an
hour, the mound gave way, and tumbled at once,
with fifty men stationed on it, some of whom
were killed, and many disabled.
"Notwithstanding the numbers of the enemy's
guards which surrounded the fort, the garrison,
by means of able spies, carried on a constant correspondence
with Madras and Fort St. David;
where the Company's agents were very solicitous
to relieve them; and, having received some recruits
from Europe, formed a party of 100 Europeans,
who, with 200 sepoys, set out from Madras under
the command of Lieutenant Innis. Before they
had advanced thirty miles on their way to Arcot,
they were surrounded in the town of Trivatore
by 2000 of Rajah Sahib's troops, detached with
twenty Europeans, and two field-pieces from the
city. The English party, having no cannon,
were so severely annoyed by the enemy's, that
Lieutenant Innis, as the only resource, made a
push with all his Europeans to drive them from
their guns. The attempt succeeded, but not
without a sharp contest, in which twenty of the
English, and two of their officers were killed,
and a greater number wounded. This loss deterred
the rest from continuing their march, and
they retreated to Poonamalee, a fort built by the
Moors, and at this time belonging to the Company,
fifteen miles west of Madras.
"On the 24th of October, the enemy opened
their battery to the south-west. The part of the
wall against which they directed their fire, was
in a very ruinous condition; but it had the
advantage of being much less exposed than any
other to the fire from the houses. The garrison,
therefore, kept up a constant fire of musketry
against the battery, and several times drove the
enemy out of it; but the breach, notwithstanding,
increased every day.
"The retreat of Lieutenant Innis left the garrison
little hopes of succour from the settlements;
but at this time their spirits were raised by the
hopes of other resources. A body of 6000 Mahrattas,
under the command of Morari-row, had lain
for some time encamped at the foot of the western
mountains, about thirty miles from Arcot: they
had been hired to assist Mahommed-Ali, by the
king of Mysore; but the retreat of the English
and the Nabob's troops to Trichinopoly, had
been represented in the neighbouring countries
so much to their prejudice, that the Nabob's
affairs were thought to be desperate, and his
allies were suspected of having little intention to
support him; and from this persuasion the
Mahrattas remained inactive. Captain Clive
had found means to send a messenger to inform
them of his situation, and to request their approach
to his relief. The messenger returning
safe to the fort, brought a letter from Morari-row,
in which he said he would not delay a moment
to send a detachment of his troops to the assistance
of such brave men as the defenders of
Arcot, whose behaviour had now first convinced
him that the English could fight.
"Rajah Sahib, receiving intelligence of their
intentions, sent a flag of truce on the 30th of
October, with proposals for the surrender of the
fort. He offered honourable terms to the garrison,
and a large sum of money to Captain Clive; and,
if his offers were not accepted, he threatened to
storm the fort immediately, and put every man
to the sword.
"Captain Clive, in his answer, reproached the
badness of Chunda Sahib's cause; treated Rajah
Sahib's offers of money with contempt; and said
that he had too good an opinion of his prudence
to believe that he would attempt to storm until
he had got better soldiers than the rabble of
which his army was composed. As soon as the
messenger was despatched, the flag of truce was
pulled down; but, the enemy not understanding
the rules of European war, numbers of them
remained near the ditch, parleying with the sepoys,
and persuading them to desert. The
crowd was several times warned to retire, but,
continuing to disregard the injunction, was dispersed
by a volley of small arms, which killed
several of them.
"Lieutenant Innis's party, reinforced to the
number of 150 Europeans, and with four field-pieces,
was now advancing under the command
of Captain Kilpatrick; and on the 9th of November
a detachment of Mahrattas arrived in
the neighbourhood, and intercepted some ammunition
going to the enemy. They likewise
attempted to enter the town; but, finding every
street and avenue barricadoed, they contented
themselves with plundering and setting fire to
some houses in the skirts of it; after which they
retreated.
"By this time the enemy had, from their battery
to the south-west, made a breach much larger
than that to the north-west, for it extended near
thirty yards; but the ditch before it was full of
water, and not fordable; and the garrison had
counterworked this breach with the same kind
of defences as the other.
"Rajah Sahib, exasperated by the answer he
had received to his summons, and alarmed by the
approach of the Mahrattas and the detachment
from Madras, determined to storm the fort. In
the evening, a spy brought intelligence of this
to the garrison; and at midnight another came,
with all the enemy's dispositions, and the hour of
attack, which was to begin at the dawn of the
day, by the signal of three bombs.
"Captain Clive, almost exhausted with fatigue,
lay down to sleep, ordering himself to
be awakened at the first alarm.
"It was the 14th of November, and the festival
which commemorates the murder of the brothers
Hassan and Hassein happened to fall out at this
time. This is celebrated by the Mahommedans
of Hindustan with a kind of religious madness,
some acting and others bewailing the catastrophe
of their saints with so much energy, that several
die of the excesses they commit: they are likewise
persuaded that whoever falls in battle
against unbelievers, during any of the days of
this ceremony, shall instantly be translated into
the higher paradise, without stopping at any of
the intermediate purgatories. To the enthusiasm
of superstition was added the more certain efficacy
of inebriation; for most of the troops, as is
customary during the agitations of the festival,
had eaten plentifully of bang, a plant which either
stupifies, or excites the most desperate excesses
of rage. Thus prepared, as soon as the morning
broke, the army of Rajah Sahib advanced to the
attack. Besides a multitude that came with ladders
to every part of the walls that were accessible,
there appeared four principal divisions; two
of these divisions advanced to the two gates, and
the other two were allotted to the breaches.
"Captain Clive, awakened by the alarm, found
his garrison at their posts, according to the dispositions
he had made. The parties who attacked
the gates drove before them several elephants,
who, with large plates of iron fixed on their foreheads,
were intended to break them down; but
the elephants, wounded by the musketry, soon
turned, and trampled on those who escorted
them. The ditch before the breach to the north-west
was fordable; and as many as the breach
would admit mounted it with a mad kind of intrepidity,
whilst numbers came and sat down
with great composure in the fausse-braye under
the tower where the field-piece was planted, and
waited there, to relieve those who were employed
in the attack: these passed the breach, and some
of them even got over the first trench before the
defenders gave the fire: it fell heavily, and every
shot did execution; and a number of muskets
were loaded in readiness, which those behind
delivered to the first rank as fast as they could
discharge them. The two pieces of cannon
from the top of the house fired likewise on
the assailants, who in a few minutes abandoned
the attack; when another body, and then another
succeeded, who were driven off in the same
manner. In the mean time bombs, with short
fusees, which had been prepared and lodged in
the adjacent rampart, were thrown into the
fausse-braye, and by their explosion drove the
crowd who had seated themselves there back
again over the ditch.
"At the breach to the south-west the enemy
brought a raft, and seventy men embarked on it
to cross the ditch, which was flanked by two
field-pieces, one in each tower. The raft had
almost gained the fausse-braye, when Captain
Clive, observing that the gunners fired with bad
aim, took the management of one of the field-pieces
himself, and, in three or four discharges,
flung them into such confusion, that they overset
the raft, and tumbled into the ditch; where some
of them were drowned, and the rest, intent only
on their own preservation, swam back and left
the raft behind.
"In these different attacks, the enemy continued
the storm for an hour; when they relinquished
all their attempts of annoyance at once,
and employed themselves earnestly in carrying
off their dead. Amongst these was the commander
of their sepoys, who fell in the fausse-braye
of the northern breach. He had distinguished
himself with great bravery in the attack, and was
so much beloved by his troops, that one of them
crossed the ditch, and carried off his body, exposing
himself, during the attempt, to the fire
of forty muskets, from which he had the good
fortune to escape. It seemed as if the enemy
expected that the garrison would permit them
to fulfil this duty to their friends; but, finding
that they suffered severely in attempting it,
they at last retreated and disappeared. Their
loss, during the storm, was computed to be not
less than 400 men killed and wounded; of which
very few were Europeans; for most of the French
troops were observed drawn up, and looking on
at a distance. Of the defenders, only four Europeans
were killed, and two sepoys wounded.
Many of the garrison being disabled by sickness
or wounds, the number which repulsed the storm
was no more than eighty Europeans (officers
included), and 120 sepoys; and these, besides
serving five pieces of cannon, expended 12,000
musket cartridges during the attack.
"Two hours after, the enemy renewed their
fire upon the fort, both with their cannon and
with musketry from the houses. At two in the
afternoon they demanded leave to bury their
dead; which was granted, and a truce allowed
until four. They then recommenced, and continued
their fire smartly till two in the morning,
when, on a sudden, it ceased totally; and, at
daybreak, intelligence was brought that the
whole army had abandoned the town with precipitation.
On receiving this joyful news, the
garrison immediately marched into the enemy's
quarters, where they found four pieces of artillery,
four mortars, and a large quantity of ammunition,
which they brought in triumph into
the fort. During the time that the garrison
were shut up in the fort, forty-five Europeans
and thirty sepoys were killed, and a greater
number of both wounded; most of whom suffered
by the enemy's musketry from the houses.
"Thus ended this siege, maintained fifty days,
under every disadvantage of situation and force,
by a handful of men, in their first campaign,
with a spirit worthy of the most veteran troops:
and conducted by their young commander with
indefatigable activity, unshaken constancy, and
undaunted courage: and, notwithstanding he had
at this time neither read books, nor conversed
with men capable of giving him much instruction
in the military art, all the resources which he
employed in the defence of Arcot, were such as
are dictated by the best masters in the science
of war."[43]
I have it in my power, from authority I cannot
doubt, to add to the account of this celebrated
siege an anecdote, singularly illustrative of the
character of the native troops of India. When
provisions became so scarce that there was a fear
that famine might compel them to surrender,
the sepoys proposed to Clive to limit them to the
water[44] in which the rice was boiled. "It is,"
they said, "sufficient for our support: the Europeans
require the grain."
This fact is as honourable to Clive, as to those
under his command; for the conduct of the
native troops of India will always be found to
depend upon the character of the officers under
whom they are employed. Flattered and elevated
by the confidence reposed in them, they
will almost rival Europeans in their efforts to
merit such consideration; but when their character
and feelings are not understood, and a
secondary place is assigned them, or when they
are treated as an inferior class of troops, they soon
become, from sinking in their own estimation,
what ignorant and unskilful leaders have too
often, in justification of their own failure, described
them. From the nature and constitution
of this part of our army, it cannot be otherwise;
and there are abundant examples to prove, that
where knowledge and talent are united in the
commander, no fear need be entertained of his
success in stimulating the native part of his force
to every effort, of which patient suffering, under
privation and fatigue, or active and daring valour
in front of the enemy, is capable.
Clive took full advantage of the impressions
made by his successful defence of Arcot. Having
increased his force by a detachment from Fort
St. David of two hundred Europeans and seven
hundred sepoys, he took the small fort of Timery[45];
and aided by a party of Mahrattas, sent
by Morari-row, the chief of Goothy, he did not
hesitate, by a forced march, to meet a party of
three hundred Europeans, two thousand horse,
and two thousand five hundred sepoys, with four
field pieces, which had been sent from Pondicherry
to aid Rajah Sahib.
After a well-contested action, the French were
completely routed; and night only saved them
from destruction. The Mahrattas, who had displayed
courage in the action, were most eager in
the pursuit, in which they took four hundred
horses, and Rajah Sahib's military chest, containing
100,000 rupees.[46]
These successes turned the tide of the public
opinion, in that part of the country where they occurred,
in favour of the English. The killahdar
(or governor) of Arnee proclaimed his allegiance
to Mahommed Ali; and six hundred French
sepoys, having brought their arms, were enlisted,
and added by Clive to the strength of his small
force.
Clive next proceeded to the attack of Conjeveram,
of which the French had made a post.
The commandant compelled two English officers,
Revel and Glass, who were their prisoners, to
write, that if the place was attacked they should
be exposed on the wall. They, however, added
to the letter, that they made this communication
by desire of the enemy, but trusted no consideration
for them would for one instant stop
operations. When battering cannon arrived, a
breach was made; but the French garrison,
dreading the just resentment which their conduct[47]
had excited, did not await a storm, but
abandoning the pagoda at night, left behind the
two prisoners they had threatened to expose.
Clive, after destroying the defences of Conjeveram,
and strengthening the garrison of Arcot,
proceeded himself to Fort St. David, to report
the details of his success, and to suggest further
operations.
These successes had, at first, a favourable impression
upon the affairs of Mahommed Ali, who
still remained at Trichinopoly, where he was in
daily expectation of being joined by a large force
from Mysore, to the Regent of which country he
had made great promises. He had been joined
by a body of Mahrattas sent by Morari-row;
but the comparatively small force of the English
led their cautious commander, Captain Gingen,
to limit himself to the defensive.
This excited a spirit of discontent in the garrison,
and more in the Mahrattas, who, eager for
action, upbraided the English for their want of
enterprise, telling them[48], "they were not the
same kind of men whom they had seen fight so
gallantly at Arcot!"
In the beginning of the ensuing year (January,
1752), Rajah Sahib re-assembled a force, which
amounted to four hundred Europeans, two
thousand sepoys, and two thousand five hundred
horse, with a train of artillery, and began to
lay waste the territories of Mahommed Ali,
plundering those of the English at Poonamalee,
and burning their newly-erected houses at St.
Thomas's Mount.
To arrest the progress of this party, a force of
three hundred and eighty Europeans, one thousand
three hundred sepoys, and six field pieces,
was placed under Clive. He immediately[49]
marched towards the enemy, who, notwithstanding
their superiority in numbers, did not venture
to meet him, but abandoned different strong positions
on his approach; till he came so unexpectedly
upon them at the village of Coverspak,
that the leading men of his party received a discharge
from their artillery, posted in a grove,
before he was aware of their vicinity. To
remedy the temporary confusion this created,
Clive took advantage of a water-course to afford
his infantry shelter, while he secured his baggage
and prepared for an attack. His first efforts were
unsuccessful, from the superiority of the enemy's
artillery; and he soon saw that he must either
capture it or retreat. The mango grove, in which
it was placed, was defended in front by a steep
bank and ditch; but the report of those he sent
to reconnoitre the rear of their position, satisfied
him it was open and not guarded. He instantly
detached six hundred of his best men to make
a detour, and attack the enemy in rear, while the
main body pressed them in front. He had proceeded
some distance with this detachment, in
order to ensure its proper direction, when his
temporary absence had nearly caused the defeat
of the troops he left engaged in the water-course.
These men, accustomed to look to him alone for
victory, and discouraged by so large a party being
detached, had given way; and on his return, it
was not without great difficulty he rallied them,
and made them recommence a firing, which was
continued, and the enemy amused, till a volley
from the party who had been sent to the rear announced
their arrival and success at the same
moment. For having reconnoitred the position
by means of an officer who, speaking French, was
mistaken for a friend, they had approached so
close before they were discovered, that the enemy
were thrown into inextricable confusion. Nine
pieces of cannon were taken, and all fled, except
a party of sixty Europeans, who surrendered:—fifty
Frenchmen and three hundred sepoys were
found dead upon the field. The loss of the English
detachment was also severe. Forty Europeans
and thirty sepoys were killed, and a much
greater number were wounded:—but the effect
produced by the skill and gallantry of Clive was
decisive. The French force in this part of the
Carnatic was destroyed, and the reputation of
the British arms was restored, or rather founded,
in India:—for before his brilliant successes no
event had occurred which could lead the natives
to believe that the English, as soldiers, were equal
to the French.[50]
Clive was recalled to Madras to take charge of a
considerable detachment destined to reinforce the
garrison of Trichinopoly; but before he marched,
Major Lawrence returned from England, and
assumed the command. The young[51] and successful
soldier placed himself under the veteran,
whom he never ceased to regard with attachment
and respect. Of the sentiments which Lawrence
entertained towards him, we have the strongest
proof in his narrative. When expressing his
opinion of Clive's operations in the Carnatic, he
observes, "The French bringing almost their
whole force into the field with Chunda Sahib,
and leaving Arcot but poorly defended, a
scheme was laid to reduce part of that country
to the Nabob's obedience. Captain Clive
commanded the party. The expedition was
attended with uncommon success, which some
people were pleased to term fortunate and
lucky; but in my opinion, from the knowledge
I have of the gentleman, he deserved and
might expect, from his conduct, every thing
as it fell out. A man of an undaunted resolution,
of a cool temper, and of a presence of
mind which never left him in the greatest
danger,—born a soldier, for, without a military
education of any sort or much conversing with
any of the profession, from his judgment and
good sense he led an army like an experienced
officer and a brave soldier, with a prudence that
certainly warranted success. This young man's
early genius surprised and engaged my attention,
as well before as at the siege of Devecottah,
where he behaved in courage and judgment
much beyond what could be expected from his
years; and his success afterwards confirmed
what I said to many people concerning him."[52]
The object of this memoir neither admits nor
requires a detail of the military operations or political
transactions of which Trichinopoly and its
vicinity now became the theatre. The chief
contest was between the British and French;
whose forces, though professedly only subsidiary
to the native princes, were in fact principals, and
fought for their existence in this part of India.
It has been already stated, that Captain Gingen
almost entirely confined himself within the walls
of the fort, while the Nabob and his allies were
under the protection of its guns. M. Law, with
a superior body of Europeans, and Chunda Sahib
were not only in possession of the strong pagoda
of Seringham, and of the whole island betwixt the
Caveri and Coleroon, but had advanced their
batteries and posts to the south of the Caveri, to
which they were now sufficiently bold to remove
their encampments.
The arrival, however, of Major Lawrence with
his reinforcement, his established fame, and the
rising reputation of Clive, infused new life into
the English and their allies. A spirited and successful
affair, which was the consequence of an
attempt made by the French to intercept the entrance
of this party into the fort, gave earnest of
that change in operations which was now to be
expected, and M. Law, against the remonstrances
of Chunda Sahib, and contrary to the instructions
of Dupleix, on seeing Lawrence making preparations
for a general attack of his position to the
south of the Caveri, withdrew his troops to the
island of Seringham, placing himself from that
moment on the defensive. Every advantage of
the retrograde motion of the French was taken
by Major Lawrence.
This officer, equally distinguished for his
judgment and spirit, had none of that petty
jealousy which often leads men in superior stations
to deny themselves and their country the
full benefit of the extraordinary talents which
may happen to belong to those under their command.
Major Lawrence, perfectly appreciating
the character of Clive, consulted him on all
occasions. By his advice he divided his small
force, at a hazard which a knowledge of the
mind, or rather minds, of those opposed to him,
could alone have justified. While half of his
troops remained at Trichinopoly, the other half
was placed in a position between Seringham and
Pondicherry, in order to interrupt that intercourse
on which the French depended for their support.
The successful result of these operations was the
capture and death of Chunda Sahib[53], and the
surrender of the French troops. Whatever may
have been the claim of Chunda Sahib to the
station he assumed, and in which he was supported
by his European allies, his personal character
is entitled to more respect than that of any
of the native actors who appeared on the scene
during this short but eventful period. He was
active, brave, and generous; and whenever he
had the sole direction of affairs, evinced spirit
and judgment. His fate was unhappy. When
M. Law, reduced to distress in the pagoda of
Seringham, told him he could no longer afford him
protection, Chunda Sahib listened to a deceitful
offer of Monackjee, the general of the Tanjore
forces, who, instead of that kindness with
which he had sworn to treat him, placed him
in confinement, and hastened to inform those
with whom he was co-operating (the English,
the Nabob Mahommed Ali, the Mysorians, and
the Mahrattas,) of the noble prize he had decoyed
into his toils; but Monackjee, instead of
that applause and profit he anticipated from his
treachery, soon found, that while all resolved he
should not retain his prisoner, each party was desirous
of having him under their own charge. On
seeing that they were on the point of quarrelling
with his prince, and amongst each other, for
the possession of Chunda Sahib's person, he
determined, with a cruelty equal to his perfidy,
to put that chief to death. The purpose was no
sooner formed than executed; and the head of
Chunda Sahib was sent to his rival and enemy,
Mahommed Ali, who exhibited it to his army and
followers, under circumstances meant to throw
obloquy upon the deceased, but which, however
sanctioned by usage, have, even in India, more
commonly the effect of awakening personal resentment,
and bringing shame upon those who
indulge in such barbarous and unmanly triumphs
over the remains of gallant though unfortunate
enemies.
The surrender of the French and the death of
Chunda Sahib, instead of terminating hostilities,
and fixing Mahommed Ali in the sovereignty of
the Carnatic, gave rise to disputes between that
prince and his allies, which seemed to place
peace at a greater distance than ever. Reduced to
extremity, Mahommed Ali purchased the aid of
Nundirauze, the regent of Mysore, by compliance
with his exorbitant demands. The most important
was the cession of Trichinopoly, to which the
nabob was formally pledged by a written engagement,
the performance of which was now demanded,
but compliance evaded on a pretext that
the period was not arrived when the nabob could
give it up with safety, as many of the strongholds
in the Carnatic were still in the hands of the
enemy. The Mahratta leader, Morari-row, was
called in as umpire. That gallant but wily
chief, professing to be with both parties, had no
desire but to possess[54] himself of the place in
dispute. He strongly advised the Mysorian to
insist on the fulfilling of the treaty, and became
publicly the advocate for its performance, while,
in private with Mahommed Ali, he ridiculed the
idea of any one entertaining the expectation,
that he ever should be so absurd as to give up
(when he could keep it) a fortress which was
now conveniently described[55] as the property of
the Emperor of Delhi, and one which it would be
treason in his delegate to surrender. But I quit
this scene of evasion, intrigue, and perfidy, to
describe the part which Clive took in the operations
which terminated this short campaign in
a manner so honourable to the British arms.
(A. D. 1752.)
Major Lawrence, who, as he himself has observed,
early discerned the extraordinary qualities
of Clive, fostered them with a care which
reflects the highest honour on his character.
He attended on all occasions to the suggestions
of the young soldier, and as cheerfully granted,
as the other in every case deserved, the post of
danger. In the actions which took place before
they entered Trichinopoly, Clive was eminently
distinguished by having occupied and maintained,
under a most severe fire, a small building in
front of the French battalion, which, by his
advance and that of Captain Dalton with the
grenadiers and some artillery, was compelled to
retreat with the confederate force, from the
position he had so judiciously seized.
But it was in the execution of the plan
already noticed, of interrupting the intercourse
between Seringham and Pondicherry, that Clive
found the opportunity of exhibiting those powers
of combination, self-possession, and intrepidity
that were so conspicuous in his character. He
suggested, as has been before stated, this bold
operation to Major Lawrence, with whom he
lived on terms of the strictest intimacy; and
the latter, in adopting a plan which a contemporary
historian describes "as risking the
whole to gain the whole," trusted entirely for
its success to the enterprise and judgment of his
young friend: but Clive was the junior captain
of his force, and it was not easy to appoint him
to such an important command over the heads
of so many officers, some of whom had acquired
a just reputation. The difficulty Major Lawrence
apprehended on this head was, however,
soon put an end to by the open declaration of
the allies, that they would not detach the portions
of their troops necessary to form this corps
under any other but him who had defended
Arcot.
The force with which Clive marched[56] from
Trichinopoly consisted of four hundred Europeans,
seven hundred sepoys, three thousand
Mahratta, and one thousand Tanjore horse, with
eight pieces of artillery, two of which were battering
guns. He passed the Coleroon before
daylight, and occupied a pagoda called Samiaveram,
seven miles north of that river, and on
the high road betwixt Seringham and Utatore,
a post of the French on their line of communication
with Pondicherry. His first care was
to strengthen this position, and to plant cannon
so as to command the road both to the north
and south.
Dupleix, on learning the situation of affairs
at Trichinopoly, had detached a party of seven
hundred men under Monsieur D'Autueil, who
had orders to proceed to Seringham and take
the command from M. Law, with whose conduct
the French governor was much dissatisfied.
The utmost importance was attached to intercepting
this body of men; and Clive, on learning
their arrival at Utatore, and that it was
D'Autueil's intention to attempt the junction
by a circuitous route, marched to oppose him,
leaving a small part of his force to guard his post
at Semiaveram; but on finding that D'Autueil,
alarmed at his approach, had hastened back to
Utatore, he lost no time in returning. M. Law,
who heard of his leaving his post, but not of
his return, detached[57], as soon as it was dark, a
corps of eighty Europeans, and seven hundred
sepoys, to attack the few troops he imagined to
be remaining at Samiaveram. Of these men
forty were English deserters. The extraordinary
events which followed cannot be better
related than in the words of the historian[58] to
whom we have so often referred.
"The party arrived near the camp at midnight,
when one of their spies informed the
commanding officer, that the troops which had
marched against M. D'Autueil had returned;
but he, imputing the information either to cowardice
or treachery, gave no credit to the spy,
and proceeded; they were challenged by the
advanced guard of English sepoys, on which
the officer of the deserters, an Irishman, stept
out and told them, that he was sent by Major
Lawrence to reinforce Captain Clive: and the
rest of the deserters, speaking English likewise,
confirmed the assertion, and persuaded the sepoys
so fully, that they omitted the usual precaution
of asking the counter-word, which would
certainly have discovered the stratagem, and
sent one of their body to conduct the enemy to
the head-quarters. They continued their march
through a part of the Mahratta camp, without
giving or receiving any disturbance, until they
came to the lesser pagoda. Here they were
challenged by the sentinels, and by others posted
in a neighbouring choultry to the north of it,
in which Captain Clive lay asleep. They returned
the challenge by a volley into each place,
and immediately entered the pagoda, putting all
they met to the sword. Captain Clive, starting
out of his sleep, and not conceiving it possible
that the enemy could have advanced into the
centre of his camp, imputed the firing to his
own sepoys alarmed by some attack at the outskirts;
he, however, ran to the upper pagoda,
where the greatest part of his Europeans were
quartered, who, having likewise taken the
alarm, were under arms; and he immediately
returned with two hundred of them to the
choultry. Here he now discovered a large
body of sepoys drawn up, facing the south, and
firing at random. Their position, which looked
to the enemy's encampment, joined to their
confusion, confirmed him in his conjecture, that
they were his own troops who had taken some
unnecessary alarm. In this supposition, he
drew up his Europeans within twenty yards of
their rear, and then, going alone amongst them,
ordered them to cease, upbraiding some with
the panic he supposed them to have taken, and
even striking others: at length, one of the sepoys,
who understood a little of the French language,
discovering that he was an Englishman,
attacked and wounded him in two places with
his sword; but, finding himself overpowered,
ran away to the lower pagoda. Captain Clive,
exasperated at this insolence from a man whom
he imagined to be in his own service, followed
him to the gate, where, to his great surprise, he
was accosted by six Frenchmen. His usual
presence of mind did not fail him on this critical
occasion, but, suggesting to him all that
had happened, he told the Frenchmen with
great composure, that he was come to offer
them terms, and if they would look out they
would perceive the pagoda surrounded with his
whole army, who were determined to give no
quarter if any resistance were made. The firmness
with which these words were delivered
made such an impression, that three of the
Frenchmen ran into the pagoda to carry this
intelligence, whilst the other three surrendered
their arms to Captain Clive, and followed him
towards the choultry, whither he hastened, intending
to order the Europeans to attack the
body of sepoys, whom he now first knew to be
his enemies; but these had already discovered the
danger of their situation, and had marched out
of the reach of the Europeans, who, imagining
that they did this in obedience to Captain Clive's
orders, made no motion to interrupt or attack
them. Soon after, eight Frenchmen, who had been
sent from the pagoda to reconnoitre, fell in with
the English troops and were made prisoners; and
these, with the other three whom Captain Clive
had taken, were delivered to the charge of a serjeant's
party, who, not knowing, in the time of
darkness and confusion, that the enemy were in
possession of the lower pagoda, carried them thither,
and, on delivering them to the guard, found
out their error; but such was also the confusion of
the French in the pagoda, that they suffered the
serjeant and his party to return unmolested. The
rest of the English troops had now joined the
others, and Captain Clive, imagining that the
enemy would never have attempted so desperate
an enterprise without supporting it with their
whole army, deemed it absolutely necessary to
storm the pagoda, before the troops who were in
it could receive any assistance. One of the two
folding-doors of the gateway had for some time
been taken down to be repaired, and the other
was strongly stapled down, so that the remaining
part of the entrance would admit only two men
abreast. The English soldiers made the attack,
and continued it for some time with great resolution;
but the deserters within fought desperately,
and killed an officer and fifteen men, on
which the attack was ordered to cease till daybreak;
and, in the mean time, such a disposition
was made as might prevent those in the pagoda
from escaping, and at the same time oppose any
other body which might come to their relief. At
daybreak the commanding officer of the French,
seeing the danger of his situation, made a sally
at the head of his men, who received so heavy
a fire, that he himself, with twelve others who
first came out of the gateway, were killed by
the volley; on which the rest ran back to the
pagoda. Captain Clive then advanced into the
porch of the gate, to parley with the enemy;
and, being weak with the loss of blood and fatigue,
stood with his back to the wall of the
porch, and leaned, stooping forward, on the
shoulders of two serjeants. The officer of the
English deserters presented himself with great
insolence, and, telling Captain Clive, with abusive
language, that he would shoot him, fired
his musket. The ball missed him, but went
through the bodies of both the serjeants on
whom he was leaning, and they both fell mortally[59]
wounded. The Frenchmen had hitherto
defended the pagoda, in compliance with the
English deserters; but, thinking it necessary to
disavow such an outrage, which might exclude
them from any pretensions to quarter, their officer
immediately surrendered. By this time, the body
of the enemy's sepoys had passed out of the camp,
with as little interruption as they had entered it:
but orders having been sent to the Mahrattas
to pursue them, Innis-Khan, with all his men,
mounted at daybreak, and came up with them
in the open plain, before they gained the bank
of the Coleroon. The sepoys no sooner perceived
them, than they flung away their arms,
and attempted to save themselves by dispersing;
but the Mahrattas, who never figure so much as
in these cruel exploits, exerted themselves with
such activity, that, according to their own report,
not a single man of seven hundred escaped
alive: it is certain that none ever appeared to
contradict this assertion. Besides the escapes
already mentioned, Captain Clive had another
which was not discovered until the hurry of the
day was over, when it was found that the volley,
which the enemy fired into the choultry where
he was sleeping, had shattered a box that lay
under his feet, and killed a servant who lay close
to him."
The mistakes of the night at Samiaveram were
of a character more likely to be created by the
imagination of a dramatic poet, to give incident
and spirit to the sudden change of scene and
action, than to take place in real military operations;
but no occurrence of his life called forth
in a more remarkable degree that quickness of
perception and that calm self-possession for which
Clive was distinguished.
Major Lawrence, not wishing to hazard again
the important post of Samiaveram, sent a party
of four hundred sepoys, five hundred Mahratta
horse, and four field-pieces, under Captain Dalton,
to watch the movements of Monsieur d'Autueil,
who still remained at Utatore. The French
outposts were driven back in the dusk of the
evening; and the English, having been divided
into two bodies, moved on the flanks of the
line with the hopes of deceiving them into a
belief that it was the whole of Clive's force
which had come to assail them. The stratagem
succeeded. D'Autueil not only drew his troops
within the walls of the village, but evacuated
it next morning, and retreated to Volcondah,
leaving to Captain Dalton's corps the ammunition
and supplies he had brought for the troops at
Seringham. M. Law, who observed from the
top of the pagoda at Seringham the movement
of Captain Dalton's detachment, mistook it for
that of Clive, and marched upon Samiaveram;
but when he found the whole body of the English
stationed there drawn up to receive him, he fell
back on his position.
The detachment from Trichinopoly had received
orders to return, but a sudden swelling of
the Coleroon rendered that impracticable. Clive
determined to take advantage of the state of the
river to attack the French post of Pitchandah, on
its northern bank, which M. Law could not now
succour. Captain Dalton, being informed of his
resolution, and not wishing to interfere with his
command, immediately placed his corps under
Clive's orders, and requested to be employed as
a volunteer![60] A higher testimony to acknowledged
superiority of character cannot be adduced
than this temporary resignation of the claims of
senior rank by a gallant and able officer, and that
at the very moment when he was flushed with
the success of the service on which he had been
detached.
The camp of Chunda Sahib, near Seringham,
was on the south bank of the Coleroon, opposite
to Pitchandah. Clive, in order to annoy the
enemy and to cover his operations against that
place, converted into a six-gun battery a high
mound on the north bank of the river, which had
been raised to prevent its encroachment on the
low land.[61] This mound completely commanded
the enemy's camp[62], and was at the same time
protected from the guns at Pitchandah. The
disorder created by the opening of this battery
was great; men, women, children, elephants,
camels, horses, and bullocks were instantly seen
in disordered flight from this unexpected danger,
hastening to the banks of the river, which they
were, however, forced to quit by the guns of Trichinopoly,
and at last found shelter by forming
an encampment out of reach of the English
cannon, and at some distance from the pagoda
of Seringham.
This operation upon the most defenceless part
of the enemy's force probably produced more
effect upon the minds of the allies of the French,
than any of the more substantial successes of the
war. The native armies of India are kept together
by very loose ties: the strongest of these
are the expectations which princes can hold out,
to the chiefs that serve them, of future pay and
reward—as these diminish or increase, their attachment
ebbs or flows; but they seldom despair
of a cause, till reverses so materially affect the
safety of their numerous armed and unarmed
followers, that they can no longer keep them together.
The feelings of the latter have an
extraordinary influence upon success; for as the
chief receives little, if any, pay from the prince,
he must support himself by loans from bankers
and merchants residing in his camp, while his
soldiers owe the food by which they are supported
to the credit given them by the dealers in the
bazaar. This reciprocal expectation and confidence
is seldom shaken by any danger that is not
close at hand. The bulk of the soldiers and
camp followers are amused or deceived by false
or exaggerated reports; but the incontrovertible
proof which an attack like that of Clive gave,
of their prince and his allies not being able to
protect them, spread alarm through all ranks;
and that alarm was soon rendered irremediable
by the fall of Pitchandah.
The death of Chunda Sahib, the surrender of
the French troops, and the dissensions to which
these events gave rise between Mahommed Ali
and his allies have already been recorded. Dupleix,
who never desponded, seeing in these dissensions
the means of retrieving the interests of his nation,
fomented them by every means in his power;
and his intrigues to gain the Mysorians and the
Mahrattas were powerfully aided by his lady, who,
born in India, and understanding not only the
languages but the character of the natives, is
stated to have been on this occasion, as on various
others, of the greatest use to her ambitious husband.
The Regent of Mysore was promised Trichinopoly,
and the Mahrattas plunder and money.
Both had secretly entered into engagements, which
they were encouraged to avow by the complete
failure of an expedition[63] which the governor and
committee of Fort St. David sent to attack Gingee,
contrary to the expressed opinion of Major Lawrence.
Fortunately, however, the presumption
of Dupleix gave that able officer an opportunity
of correcting the bad impression which had been
thus made, by completely defeating a French
force[64] (1752), under Monsieur Kirjean, a nephew
of the governor, who had been compelled against
his better judgment, by the orders of his too ardent
uncle, to hazard this engagement. The Mahrattas,
on the occurrence of this success, declared
their continued adherence to the cause of Mahommed
Ali, and were employed with Major Lawrence
in reducing the country near Pondicherry.
To aid this operation, a detachment was required
to attack the forts of Chingliput and Covelong;
but there were no troops to form it, except two
hundred European recruits just landed at Madras,
who are represented as being the very refuse of
the jails of London, and five hundred newly
raised sepoys. These men had neither character
nor discipline, and seemed so little calculated to
take forts, that no officer could be expected to
risk his reputation at their head:—but Clive,
though in a state of very impaired health,—the
consequence of his former fatigues,—volunteered
to accept this unpromising command, and
marched with his small and ill-composed detachment,
and four twenty-four pounders, to
attack Covelong[65], a square fort, which, though
it had no ditch, mounted thirty pieces of cannon,
and was defended by fifty Europeans and three
hundred sepoys.
A party having been sent in advance under
Lieutenant Cooper, to take up a position in a
garden six hundred yards from the fort, were attacked
by the enemy: they stood for a short time,
but, on Lieutenant Cooper being shot, were so
dismayed that they fled with precipitation, and
were with difficulty prevented by Clive from continuing
their flight to Madras. The garden was
retaken, a battery constructed, and a post formed
on its left, near a large rock. The fire of the
enemy, however, so disconcerted Clive's party,
that they seemed prepared to fly at every alarm[66]:
a shot which struck the rock, and with its splinters
killed and wounded fourteen, so frightened the
whole, that it was some time before they would
again venture to expose themselves; and one
of the advanced sentries was found, several
hours afterwards, concealed in the bottom of a
well!
Clive, wisely judging that shame would operate
more powerfully than severity in reclaiming his
men from such cowardice, exposed himself to the
hottest of the enemy's fire, and his example
brought them in a very few days to tolerable
firmness; while their confidence in themselves
and their leader was increased by the surrender
of the fort, and still more by subsequent events.
The morning after Covelong was taken, Ensign
Joseph Smith (a name destined to fill a large
space in the future wars of Coromandel) discovered
a large body of men advancing, which
he justly considered to be a detachment from
Chingliput to relieve Covelong. He communicated
what he had seen to Clive, who, taking
every precaution to prevent this corps from
learning that the fort had fallen, laid an ambuscade
on their route, and the concealed troops (so
close and so well directed was their fire) killed
one hundred men at the first volley:—many
threw down their arms and fled, while the commanding
officer of the corps, twenty-five Europeans,
and two hundred and fifty sepoys, with
two pieces of cannon, were taken.
The news of this disaster soon reached Chingliput[67]
(1752). Clive was there almost as soon,
and, knowing well the influence of the impression
his success had made, he immediately advanced
his battery from a distance of five hundred yards,
where it was first constructed, to within two
hundred of the outer wall, which he soon breached
as well as the inner: but there was still the ditch
to be filled; for this fort, strong in some parts
by the impracticability[68] of approach, had been
fortified with great care in others; and Clive,
now confident in his men, determined on an
assault. The French commandant, observing
his preparations, offered to capitulate on the garrison
being permitted to retire with the honours
of war; terms which Clive very readily granted,
as the place, if obstinately defended, still possessed
means of formidable resistance.
It would be difficult to find an example, in any
regular army, of one so young and of such a subordinate
rank as Clive, having crowded into the
short space of two years such a series of successful
enterprises. He was not more than twenty-seven
years of age, and had only within the last year
been promoted to the rank of Captain. After
being distinguished on several occasions by the
most resolute valour, he had displayed at Arcot,
and during the operations which followed
that memorable siege, all the superior qualities of
a military leader. In the wisdom with which he
planned, and the ability and gallantry with which
he executed, those operations which so materially
contributed to the defeat and capture of the
French at Seringham, he evinced a calmness of
courage, a clearness of judgment, and a decision
of spirit, which gave confidence to his own
force, and struck terror into that of the enemy:
and in his last expedition against Covelong and
Chingliput he showed, that where real military talent
exists in the leader, there is no description of
troops with which he may not command success:
he can frame the machine at the moment to his
purpose, while the ordinary man of routine can
only employ it when prepared to his hands.
Some writers, seemingly desirous of detracting
from the character which Clive thus early established,
would insinuate that no marked superiority
of talent was exhibited in these events,
and have grounded their opinion on the comparative
smallness of the numbers of regular
troops, and the composition of the other parts
of the forces engaged in these contests; but,
with those who are qualified, by experience, to
decide on this subject, and who can appreciate
the difficulties these very circumstances created,
Clive's reputation will rise in proportion to
the smallness and unconnected nature of those
means with which, at this early stage of his life,
he accomplished objects so important to his
country. It is not in the use of ordinary means
that genius appears to most advantage: it has
its amplest range, and its noblest triumph, where
it labours amidst new and untried objects, and
converts them to purposes for which they had
always before been judged incompetent. And
no commander of modern times saw more clearly,
seized more powerfully, or used more successfully,
than Clive, the various and often discordant
materials placed within his reach. Even
at this early period of his career, he diffused his
own spirit around him. The troops under his
direction, however dispirited before, believed
that they were destined to victory and glory:
and that victory and glory did invariably attend
them, was owing to his genius alone.
