With Clive in India; Or, The Beginnings of an Empire by G. A. Henty (lightest ebook reader TXT) 📗

defeat this, the rout of his enemy would be secured. The French advanced with great rapidity, and attacked the Sepoys in front and flank, so vigorously that they broke in disorder. The rajah's troops fled instantly; and, in spite of the exhortations of Forde, the Sepoys presently followed their example, and fled with the rajah's troops to Chambol, pursued by the enemy's horse.

They would have suffered even more severely than they did, in this pursuit, had not Charlie Marryat launched his little squadron at the enemy's horse. Keeping his men well together, he made repeated charges, several times riding through and through them; until at last they desisted from the pursuit and, forming in a compact body, fell back towards the field of battle; Charlie, who had already lost twelve men, not thinking it prudent again to attack so strong a force.

Conflans' easy success over the Sepoys was fatal to him. Believing that he had defeated the English, he gave orders to several companies of the French troops to press on in pursuit, without delay. They started off in hot speed, proceeding without much order or regularity, when they were suddenly confronted by the whole line of English troops, in solid order, advancing from the high corn to take the place lately occupied by the Sepoys. In vain, the scattered and surprised companies of the French endeavoured to reform, and make head against them. So heavy was the fire of musketry opened by the British line, immediately they had taken up their position, that the French broke their ranks, and ran back as fast as they could to regain their guns, which were fully half a mile in the rear.

In the meantime, the French Sepoys on their left had been gradually driving back the English right; but Forde, disregarding this, pressed forward in hot pursuit of the French with his English, behind whom the greater portion of the beaten Sepoys had already rallied. Keeping his men well together, he advanced at the fullest speed, following so closely upon the enemy that the latter had only time to fire one or two rounds, with their thirteen guns, before the English were upon them. The French, who had already lost heart by the serious check which had befallen them, were unable to stand the shock, and at once retreated, leaving their guns behind them.

As Forde had anticipated, the French Sepoys, seeing their centre and right defeated, desisted from their attack on the English right, and fell back upon their camp. The English Sepoys at once marched forward, and joined Forde's force. The rajah's troops, however, the whole of whom had fled, remained cowering in the shelter of a large dry tank.

Forde did not wait for them; but, leaving his guns behind him, pressed forward, an hour after the defeat of the French, against their camp. To reach this, he had to pass along a narrow valley, commanded by the French heavy guns. These opened fire, but the English pressed forward without wavering. The defenders, not yet recovered from the effects of their defeat in the plain, at once gave way, and retreated in the utmost confusion towards Rajahmahendri. Had the cavalry of Anandraz been at hand to follow up the advantage, great numbers might have been captured. As it was, Charlie Marryat, with his little force, harassed them for some miles; but was unable to effect any serious damage on so strong a body. The English captured thirty-two pieces of cannon, and all the stores, ammunition, and tents of the French.

Forde at once despatched a battalion of Sepoys, under Captain Knox, in pursuit; and this officer pressed on so vigorously that he approached Rajahmahendri the same evening. Two more native battalions reached Knox during the night.

So thoroughly dispirited were the enemy, that the sight of the red-coated Sepoys of Knox, whom they could not distinguish from English, induced them to abandon Rajahmahendri in all haste, although it contained a strong mud fort, with several guns. The Godavery is two miles wide, and all night the passage of the river in boats continued; and when, at daybreak next morning, Knox broke into the town, he found fifteen Europeans still on the banks, expecting a returning boat. These he captured; and seeing, upon the opposite bank, a party about to disembark guns and stores from another boat, he opened fire from the guns of the fort towards it; and, although the shot could scarcely reach halfway across the river, such was the terror of the enemy that they forsook the boat, and fled. Knox at once sent a boat across, and brought back that containing the guns.

The French retreated to Masulipatam, the capital of the province, a port which rivalled Madras in its commerce. Forde determined to follow them there, but he was hindered by want of money to pay his troops. This the Rajah Anandraz, who had promised to supply money, now, excited and arrogant by the victory which he had done nothing towards gaining, refused to supply; and many weeks were spent in negotiations, before Forde was able to move forward.

Charlie was no longer with him. The very day before the fight of Condore, letters had arrived from Madras, stating the urgency of the position there; and, upon the night after the battle, Colonel Forde ordered Charlie to return to aid in the defence of that city, before which the French had appeared on the 29th of November.

Several skirmishes took place outside the city, and the English then retired within the fort. The force consisted of sixteen hundred white troops, and two thousand three hundred Sepoys. The nabob, who had also retired into the town, had two hundred horse and a huge retinue of attendants.

On the morning of the 14th the French occupied the town, and the next day the English made a sortie, with six hundred men. These, for a while, drove the French before them through the streets of Madras; but as the French gradually rallied, the fire upon the English was so heavy that the sortie was repulsed, with a loss of two hundred soldiers and six officers killed, wounded, and prisoners. The French loss had been about the same. Had not a large quantity of the French troops broken into the wine stores on their arrival, and drunk to a point of intoxication, it is probable that none of the British party would have returned to the fort. The sortie had, however, the effect that Saubinet, one of the best of the French officers, was killed, and Count D'Estaign, an able general, taken prisoner.

For some time, the siege proceeded slowly, the French waiting for the arrival of their siege artillery, by ship, from Pondicherry. The fort of Madras was now a far more formidable post than it had been when the French before captured it. In the year 1743 Mr. Smith, an engineer, had marked out the lines for a considerable increase in the fortifications. The ditch was dug and faced with brick, but on account of the expense, nothing further had been done. The French had added somewhat to the fortifications during their stay there in 1750. Nothing had been done by the English when they recovered the town, until the news of the preparations which the French were making for the siege of the place had been received. Four thousand natives were then set to work; and these, in eighteen months, had completed the fortifications, as designed by Mr. Smith, just before the arrival of the French.

The latter determined to attack from the northern side. Here the fort was protected by a demi-bastion, next to the sea; and by the Royal Bastion, the wall between the two being covered by a work known as the North Ravelin. The defence was also strengthened by the fire of the northwest lunette, and Pigot's Bastion.

Against these the French threw up four batteries. Lally's Battery, erected by the regiment of that name, was on the seashore directly facing the demi-bastion. To its right was the Burying Ground Battery, facing the Royal Bastion. Against the western face of this position the French regiment of Lorraine erected a strong work, while farther round to the west, on a rising ground, they threw up a battery called the Hospital Battery, which kept up a crossfire on the English position.

To prevent the French from pressing forward along the strip of shore between the fort and the sea, the English erected a strong stockade, behind which was a battery called the Fascine Battery.

A few days after the siege began, it was found that the numbers crowded up in the fort could scarcely be accommodated; and the rajah was, therefore, invited to leave by sea, on board a ship which would land him at the Dutch settlement of Negapatam, whence he might journey through the Tanjore country to Trichinopoli. This proposal he willingly accepted, and embarked with his wife, women, and children, his other followers leaving by the land side, opposite to that invested by the French. Thus the garrison were relieved of the embarrassment, and consumption of food, caused by four hundred men and two hundred horse.

Charlie rode, with his troop, without interruption through the country, avoiding all bodies of the enemy until he reached the sea, fifteen miles north of Madras. Here he hired a native boat and, leaving the troops under the command of Ensign Anstey, sailed for Madras; in order to inform the garrison of Forde's victory over the French, and to concert, with the governor, as to the measures which he wished him to carry out to harass the enemy. He was accompanied only by Tim and Hossein.

The wind was fair and, starting an hour before sunset, the boat ran into Madras roads two hours later. The Harlem, which had that day arrived with artillery for the French from Pondicherry, fired at the little craft; and the native boatmen were about to turn the head of the craft northward again. Charlie, however, drew his pistol, and Hossein took his place with his drawn tulwar by the helmsman. The boatmen, thereupon, again continued their course; and, though several shots fell near them, they escaped untouched, and anchored just outside the surf, abreast of the fort.

The English had taken the precaution of erecting a number of huts under the walls of the fort for the boatmen, in order to be able to communicate with any ship arriving, or to send messages in or out. As soon as the boat anchored, a catamaran put out, and brought Charlie and his followers to shore. There was great joy at the receipt of his news, and the guns of the fort fired twenty-one shots towards the enemy, in honor of the victory.

Governor Pigot was in general command of the defence, having under him Colonel Lawrence, in command of the troops. The latter, after inquiring from Charlie the character of the officer he had left in command of his troop, and finding that he was able and energetic, requested Charlie to send orders to him to join either the force under Captain Preston, at Chingalpatt, or that of a native leader, Mahomed Issoof, both of whom were ravaging and destroying the country about Conjeveram, whence the French besieging Madras drew most of their provisions. Charlie himself was requested to remain in the fort, where his experience in sieges would render him of great value.

At daybreak on the 2nd of January, the Lorraine and Lally Batteries opened fire. The English guns, however, proved superior in weight and number, dismounted two of the cannon, and silenced the others. The French mortars continued to throw heavy shell into the fort, and that night most of the European women and children were sent away, in native boats. The French batteries, finding the superiority of the English fire, ceased firing until the 6th, when seven guns and six large mortars from Lally's Battery, and eight guns and two mortars from the Lorraine Battery, opened upon the town.

The cannonade now continued without intermission, but the enemy gained but little advantage. Every day, however, added to their strength, as fresh vessels with artillery continued to arrive from Pondicherry. They were now pushing their approaches from Lally's Battery towards the demi-bastion. The losses on the part of the besieged were considerable, many being killed and wounded each day. This continued to the end of the month, in spite of many gallant sorties by parties of the besiegers, who repeatedly killed and drove out the working parties in the head of the French trenches. These progressed steadily, and reached to the outworks of the demi-bastion.

On the 25th the Shaftesbury, one of the Company's trading vessels, commanded by Captain Inglis, was seen approaching. The five French ships hoisted English colours. A catamaran was sent out to warn her, and at nine o'clock in the evening she came to anchor. She had on board only some invalids, but brought the welcome news that three other ships, with troops, would soon be up. She had on board, too, thirty-seven chests of silver, and many military stores, among them hand grenades and large shell, which were most welcome to the