History Of The Military Transacations Of The British Nations In Indostan Vol Ii
Robert Orme
SiEGK ()]•' Fout St. George 447 alw<ays succeeded ; and it became fortunate that so many had quitted, 1759 for even tlie best who remained could not be restrained from firing on every motion, although in vain. But by 5 o’clock in the afternoon, the perseverence of the enemy’s cannonade obliged them likewise to diminish it, for fear of ruining their own guns, and at sunset it ceased totally, and they were seen yoking, and soon after drew* oft* all their artillery, moving to the eastward: the eighteen-pounder ceased and drew oft* at the same time. The sight was more joyful than they suspected to the troops in the village, for Calliaud had just before received information, that the musket ammunition was ex- pended to six cartridges a man, and only three balls, besides the grape- shot, left for each of the field-pieces ; so that no retreat could have been made, if pressed by the enemy in the open plain. Spies followed them m until they had crossed the river of St. Thomd, and began to take up their quarters in the village of Marmelong ; and immediately on the return of the spies at eight at night, Calliaud marched away with all that remained of his force, in silence, for fear of the enemy’s cavalry, and left fires to deceive them Before the morning, they arrived at Vendaloor. The fugitive cavalry of the morning had run away with so much hurry, that they reached Chinglapet before noon. To rejoin them, as well as to get a supply of ammunition, Calliaud continued his march the next day, and arrived there in the evening, where all the Sepoys, who had not entirely deserted, were likewise assembled Of the Europeans, seven were killed, and 13 wounded. It was not so easy to ascertain the loss sustained by the Sepoys ; but by the reports of those who held out through the action, it was computed that fifty were killed on the spot, and about 150 were brought away wounded. The loss of the enemy was not known, but supposed to be 50 Eu- ropeans, and most in proportion of the cavalry. The firing of the action was heard in the fort, and several parties at different times of the day were seen going towards the Mount, and not a few palankins and doolies returning from it with the wounded. Notwithstanding the draughts which had been made for this at- tack, the enemy’s fire on the fort continued with more vivacity than might have been expected, although not so frequent as the day be- 448 The War of Coromandel. Book X. 1759 fore, but both their shot and shells were directed against the build- ings. The Shaftesbury was not ready to weigh and bear down upon the Bristol, at anchor in the road of St. Thom^, before the night closed, and in this interval the Bristol employed all the boats which could be assembled in unloading her stores, and for more dispatch put a part of them on board of the sloop which was in the road when she arrived, and into the other from the black town, which had passed and anchored near her ; nevertheless she had not discharged half her cargo before night, and for fear of the Shaftesbury set sail, and was out of reach before morning. It being supposed that the service at the Mount had drained the enemy's posts to the southward of the fort, two companies of Sepoys were detached in the afternoon, who proceeded as far as the governor’s garden, from whence they brought off some ammunition, and in their return set fire to the ga- bions of the battery near the bar, meeting no opposition. The ene- my’s mortars continued sparingly through the night, but as in the day against the houses. Not a man or a gun was hurt in the fort during these 24 hours ; but the numbers of the garrison were by this time so much impaired by casualties and sickness, that the grenadier company, which had hitherto been kept in reserve, were obliged to furnish a proportion to the guards of the different posts. The next day, which was the 10th, the enemy fired with four guns and one mortar from Lally’s, three guns from the burying- ground, two from the Lorrain battery, and with two mortars at the second crochet : the guns at Lally's fired smartly, but most of the shot from hence, as well as the shells from all the three mor- tars, were, as the day before, directed against the buildings, which were much rent and shattered. The mortars continued through the night, during which the garrison began another embrasure in the fascine battery on the beach, within the flow of the surf ; it was in- tended to sweep the strand, along which the enemy might approach under cover of the bank of sand which forms the beach and stops the sea that has thrown it up. The gallery or mine at the salient angle was this day completed : it had been pushed 90 feet from the coun- terscarp of the ditch, which brought it under the enemy’s breach- Book X. Siege of Fort St. George. 449 ing battery, when a short return was made on each hand from the 1759 end, and in a chamber at the end of each return was laid a box, containing 200 pounds of powder, to which the saucissons were fixed. The gallery before the blind was sufficiently advanced to- wards the sea-side to cross any approach under ground to the blind, and another branch was opened from this gallery ten feet on the outside of the east face of the covered- way, parallel to which it was intended to prolong the branch to the north, in order to discover and meet the enemy if working under ground in this part. In the morning the Cuddalore sloop belonging to the Company returned into the road, which she had left ten days before, having employed this ^ time in regaining the distance she had sailed in one; orders were im- mediately* sent off to her by a catamaran ; in consequence of which she bore down into the road of St. Thom^, and attacked the two small vessels lying there, which had not yet landed all the stores they had received from the Bristol. The vessels, after receiving a few shot, weighed and ran close to the surf, within 100 yards of the shore; the Cuddalore followed them as near as she could, when a party of musketry, with two field-pieces, came to the strand, and began to fire on her ; by which the crew, who were aU Lascars, were so much frightened, that they could hardly be prevailed on to stand the deck . the master, therefore, bore away, and in the even- ing anchored again before the fort The fire of the day and night wounded two Europeans and one Sepoy, and disabled a 24 pounder on the demi bastion. On the 11th the enemy's fire continued from the same cannon and mortars as the day before, but more briskly. The Cuddalore sloop bore down again in the morning upon the two vessels in the road of St. Thomd, and was again beat off by the same fire from the shore. The outward embrasure of the fascine battery in the surf was completed, and palisadoes staked in front of it : a range of trees were laid before the palisadoes, and others along the shoulder of the battery in the surf itself The casualties in the day and night were two Europeans and one Sepoy killed, and four Europeans and one The War of Cohomandel. 450 Book X, 1759 one Sepoy wounded, a twenty-four pounder was disabled on the royal bastion. The same fire continued on the 1 2th, but with more effect, disabling six guns. Before this time a]l the ojpiginal parapet of the N. E. bastion had been battered away ; and so much of the body of the bastion itself crumbled, that the outside of the gabions and sand- bags, which had been substituted on the rampart, did not extend beyond the ground which had been the line of the inside of the original parapet ; and in the afternoon of this day a shot from a twenty-four-pounder on Lally s battery came quite through the gabions, and wounded a sen- tinel in the bastion; four other Europeans and one Sepoy weie wounded, and two Europeans were killed, during these 24 l\purs At three in tlie morning of the 13th, a party from the enemy’s trenches, consisting of 50 Coffrees, advanced along the sea-side from the stockade, of which they were in possession, intending to storm and nail up the guns in the fascine battery They were led by a serjeant chosen for his bravery, with the promise of a commission if the at- tempt succeeded The party was discovered when within 30 yards of the work, on which they halted, probably to form for the ])ush, and in this short interval received two rounds of grape-shot from the embrasure next the breach, the execution of which threw them into sucli confusion, that they all ran back to the trenches, leaving seven dead, and the serjeant desperately wounded. Upon this alarm, the drums beat to arms, and all the garrison and inhabitants re])aired to their several posts ; and a smart fire was kept up from the defences, and returned by the enemy from the trenches, for some time after the party was repulsed. The serjeant ciawled into the covered-way, where he was taken up, told what he knew of the enemy’s inten- tions, and died before day-break. This day the enemy ceased firing from the three guns in the Lorrain battery, by which the number of their cannon was reduced to seven pieces; but the five in Tally’s fired very briskly : their three mortars continued as before through the day, but very sparingly during the night, which gave suspicion that they were busy at work in their trenches, and before day-light at Book X. Siege of Fort St Geoiu^e. 451 at three o’clock in the morning, it was discovered that they had ad- 1759 vanced some gabions on the edge of the surf beyond the Palmyra stockade, which indicated that they either intended to bring cannon against the fascine battery, or to advance by traverses under cover of the beach which was steep, and then attack the covered-way and the fascine battery together : a strong fire was kept up from the fas- cdne battery upon the stockade, and the gabions they had advanced until the morning. In these 24 hours no guns were dismounted in the fort, but three Europeans were killed, and four, with one Sepoy, wounded. The mine under the enemy's battery at the salient angle of the covered-way was completely stopt up before noon ; and three ])ioneers, covered at night by ten grenadiers, were continued at the counterscarp in readiness to make the explosion. It being discovered at day-break of the 14th, that the enemy had renewed their gabions beyond the stockade, a sally was made upon them at sun-rise. A subaltern and 15 men went along the covered- way till they came upon the flank of the stockade, 40 men with two captains advanced directly in front of it along the glacis, fol- lowed by 20 pioneers and an engineer without arms. The two parties attacked at the same instant, and their first fire drove the enemy from the stockade, and continued firing forwards from it on all that appeared ; at the same time the north ravelin, the royal, the demi, and N. E. bastions jilyed the trenches with grape shot, and all together deterred the enemy from venturing out of them, which gave the })ioneers leisure to overturn the gabions into the sea, and to spread and level the earth they contained. After which, the whole detachment returned unmolested into the covered-w^ay, having only two men slightly wounded. The enemy’s fire con- tinued as the day before, but they threw very few shells in the night, during which they worked hard in replacing the gabions which had been overset in the morning, and endeavoured to complete the tra- verse from them towards the surf ; but the fire of a twelve-pounder from the fascine battery, and the shells from the demi bastion, con- tinually interrupted their work. In the evening the Diligent, and a sloop with stores from Pondicherry, anchored in the road of St Thomd 452 The War of Coromandel. Book X. 1759 Thom^ ; and on their appearance 15 sailors which had been taken out of the Shaftsbury to serve in the garrison, with 30 more Eu- ropeans, were sent on board with orders to Captain Ingliss to bear down, and attack these vessels. The decks of the Shaftsbury being lumbered with goods, she did not get under sail until J 1 o'clock at night, and was too soon discovered by the two vessels, which im- mediately got under way, and before day-break were too far to the southward to be pursued. In these 24 hours two Europeans were killed, and five wounded ; but none of the Sepoys were hurt. A twenty-four-pound cr, on the demi bastion, was split in the muz- zle by one of the enemy's shot. For several days a number of la- bourers, guarded by a party of soldiers, with an officer, had been dis- cerned from the steeple demolishing the governor's garden-house, and in the afternoon of this day they set fire to the village of Chi- pauk, which stood at the back of the garden, between the bar of the river and the village of Triplicane The next day, which was the 15th, the enemy's fire was very brisk in the morning, from six guns in Lally’s, four at the burying- ground, and two in the Lorrain battery ; but it decreased in the af- ternoon, and at five o'clock they only fired from three in Lally’s, and two at the burying-ground, and from neither of the two in the Lorrain battery ; the fire of their mortars likewise slackened. Seve- ral camels and many Coolies were seen passing fron St. Thomd across Egmore plain to the black town, loaded, it was supposed, with am- munition ; but a much greater number of Coolies, with all kinds of burthens, passed from thence to the southward, which confirmed the intelligence of a spy, that the enemy were sending away their super- fluous stores and the remains of their booty to Pondicherry, and gave credit to the information of the deceased serjeant, that they had de- termined to raise the siege. They fired very few shells, and conti- nued very quiet in their trenches during the night ; but the garrison suspecting that they might be carrying on their gabions by the sea- side, kept up a smart fire from the fascine battery upon the head of their sap until two o’clock in the morning, when the moon gave suf- ficient light to discover that they were doing nothing there ; on which Book X. Siege of Foht St. Geohge. 453 'which the firing ceased. At the same time, the enemy’s guard in 1759 their battery on the the crest of the glacis, which for some days had only been used as a lodgment for musketry, perceived and fired upon a party of Sepoys who were levelling the rubbish at the foot of the demi bastion, which had been beat down by the cannonade of the day. One of the Sepoys was killed, on which the rest ran away, and no other of these troops could be prevailed upon to continue the work, which was however completed by a party of Europeans. A six-pounder in the fascine battery was disabled by one of the enemy’s shot. The casualties in the 24 hours, were one Coffree and one Sepoy killed, and one of each, with two Europeans, wounded, and Lieutenant Hopkins lost his right arm by a cannon shot. Two letters were received this day from Major Calliaud, dated the 1 1th and 13th, advising his intention to make a forced march from Ching- lapet, with the troops under his command, in hopes of surprising the fort of Sadrass, of which the French continued in possession ; and requesting that money and ammunition might be sent to him there, in consequence of which the Cuddalore sloop was immediately dispatched with 300 three-pound shot, and 20,000 pagodas in money. This sum completed 70,000, which had been sent out of the fort, since invested, for the supply of the army abroad. Much more re- mained in the Company’s treasury, which was indebted for tin’s affluence to the remittances from their acquisitions in Bengal ; but, had this source failed, the wealth of individuals collected within the fort would have been much more than sufficient to have answered all the expences incurred for its defence. Very ditferent were tlie faculties and finances of the enemy. The treasury of the govern- ment at Pondicherry was exhausted, and individuals from their dis- trust and detestation of Mr. Lally would lend none to forward the public cause, although their own ; and from violence and mis- management, the countries which had been reduced, and were the whole extent between Devi Cotah, Arcot, and Madrass, had furnished neither revenues or other means adequate to the wants and con- sumption of the enemy’s army employed in the siege, where the pay of the common soldiers was at this time six weeks in arrear, and VOL. II. 3 M their 454 The Wak of Cohomandel Book X. February. 1759 their other necessities equally ill supplied ; who nevertheless, not- withstanding the discontented discourses of their officers, still more dishonourable because they had all got plunder, persevered in their duty with unremitting spirit and alacrity, and Mr. Lally seems to have respected their merit But the Sepoys had neither the same principles, nor received the same encouragement, for he had always treated them, as all the natives in general, with the utmost contempt and severity, which they now revenged, just as their slender services became most important, by threatening to leave the army, if they were not immediately paid ; and spreading their example by their correspondence, 500, who had been posted with a few Europeans in the fort of Tripassore, forced the gates, and marching out with their arms plundered the country, in order, as they said, to collect their arrears. The news was brought to the black town a few hours after the event, on the 15th, and created much anxiety, because all the provisions which the army received, came by Tripassore, and might be easily diverted by these malcontents Few refrained from de- claring that the siege ought to be immediately raised ; but Mr. Lally, to maintain the lead of his own opinion, gave out that he would never quit the enterprize, until he had tried the success of a general assault, and talked as if the hour was not far distant. The next morning, which was the IGth, the enemy's cannon, although not increased in number, fired with more vivacity than for many days before. At 3 in the afternoon intelligence was brought by a catamaran from Paliacat, that a sloop, which had just anchored there, had spoke on the 9bh of the month in the lat of 14'\ with the ships from Bombay, from which the Shaftsbury had separated ; and that they had been seen on the 12th off Durasapatam, 100 miles to the north of Madrass. At 5 o’clock in the afternoon, the six ships were descried in the N. E. standing towards the road ; nevertheless the enemy’s fire continued with uncommon vivacity until sunset ; and it being concluded, that, if they had ever intended to make a general assault, it would be attempted this night, before the rein- forcements could be landed, every soldier and inhabitant in the gar- rison capable of standing to his arms repaired to their respective posts, 3 and Book X. Siege of Fokt St. Geobge. 455 and as soon as it was dark a hot fire of musketry from the north 1759 face of the defences was kept up on the enemy ^s works, which they returned with equal alacrity. At ten at night the ships, di- rected by lights held out in the fort, anchored in the road. The firing on shore still continued, and at two in the morning that from the enemy, in their lodgment, on the crest of the glacis, and in their posts and sap opposite to the N. E. bastion and fascine battery, although very strong before, grew stronger than ever, but their shot flew too high : it began to slacken soon after, when the blaze of fires was perceived in their trenches ; at three all their annoyances ceased entirely, after which no motions of men were any longer distin- guished ; bub several large piles of wood in the rear of Lally’s battery were seen in flames. The casualties since the preceding morning to this time, were three Europeans and one Sepoy wounded, and one Sepoy killed. At day-break the whole army were discovered in full march from the west side of the black town towards the Choultry Plain, and the greatest part had already crossed the northern river. They had pre- viously undermined the redoubt and powder-mill at Egmore ; and at nine o’clock a party left for the purpose made the explosion, which entirely ruined both ; these works had cost the Company 30,000 pounds, and could not be restored in a twelvemonth. The enemy were then perceived marching on to the Mount. The hurry of their retreat saved the black town from the resolution which Mr. Lally had taken of reducing it to ashes, if compelled to raise the siege. By noon the troops in the ships were all landed : they were, includ- ing officers, 600 men. J oy and curiosity carried out every one to view and contemplate the works from which they had received so much molestation, for the enemy's fire had continued 42 days. Thirty- three pieces of cannon, 18 or 24 pounders, were found in their posts and works, of which 26 were disabled ; but seven were in their carriages, and both in good condition. Some spare carriages were likewise left, and many can- non shot, but no mortars, although several beds ; and many mili- tary stores, with quantities of powder in casks and flannel bags, 3 M 2 were 45G The War of Coromandel. Book X. 1759 were found carelessly scattered in the trenches. They evacuated St. Tliomd, and whatever guards between this place and the fort were withdrawn at the same time that the army left the black town. The garrison, as soon as certified of their departure, sent out parties to the southward and to Egmore, who collected 19 guns more, mostly iron three-pounders : so that the whole number which the enemy lost and left behind were 52 pieces of cannon. One hun- dred and fifty barrels of good powder, and as many casks of damaged ammunition, were found in St. Thom^. But the strongest proof of the hurry and confusion with which they raised the siege, was the neglect of their sick and wounded, leaving 44 Europeans, (all who had not been sent away before) in their hospital in the black town, with a letter from Mr. Lally, recommending them to the care of the English governor : they were received and treated with the same attentions as if they had belonged to the garrison, and most of them afterwards recovered. The fort fired during the siege 26,554 rounds from their cannon, 7,502 shells from their mortars, and threw 1,990 hand-grenades ; the musketry expended 200,000 cartridges. In these services were used 1,768 barrels of gunpowder. Thirty pieces of cannon and five mortars had been dismounted on the works. There remained in the fort, artillery sufficient for another siege, with 30,767 can- non-balls, but only 481 shells, and 668 barrels of gunpowder. As many of the enemy^s cannon-balls were gathered in their works, or about the defences of the fort, or found in wells and tanks in the black town, as the garrison had expended. The enemy con- sumed all the shells of the two first rates in the stores of Pondi- cherry, and threw of all soi'ts 8000, of which by far the greatest number were directed against the buildings, all of which lay to- gether in half the area within the walls, in the old town to the eastward : and scarce a house remained that was not opened to the heavens. Of the European officers, one major, Polier, two captains, six lieutenants, and four ensigns, were killed : one captain and one lieu- tenant died of sickness : 14 other officers were wounded, of whom some Book X. Siege of Fort St. George. 457 some dangerously , and four were taken prisoners : in all 33. Of 1759 rank and file in the battalions of Europeans, and of the men be- longing to the artillery, 198 were killed, 52 died in the hospital, 20 deserted, 122 were taken prisoners, and 167 were wounded; in all 559; but many of the wounded recovered. Of the Lascars, who were natives assisting in the artillery, nine were killed, and 15 wounded. Of the Sepoys, including ofiicers, 105 were killed 217 wounded, and 440 deserted. The loss in Europeans was more than reinstated by the troops brought in the ships. The governor Mr. Pigot, as soon as the enemy disappeared, re- linquished the special authority which had been vested in himself, to the usual administration of the council, of which he was President ; and received their thanks for the good effects of his resolution and activity during the siege : he had visited the works every day, en- couraging the garrison by his presence, and rewarding those ex- posed to severer services with money. Provisions of all kinds in abundance, and of the best condition, had been laid up, and as well as all the military stores, were distributed from the different maga- zines, under the direction of the members of the council, assisted by the inferior servants of the company, whose habits of business established and continually preserved these details free of all let and confusion. The Presidency, as soon as re-established in its usual forms, ac- knowledged their sense of the zeal and constancy with which the 'garrison had sustained every danger and fatigue ; and no men ever better deserved this testimony; for scarce a murmur had been ut- tered : all was emulation. All however acknowledged that the enemy, in proportion to their numbers, compared with the strength of the garrison and works, had pushed the attack with unremitting perseverance and endeavour, and the enemy equally respected the science and steadiness of the defence. Indeed most of the principal officers of the company’s troops had been inured to service under their general Colonel Lawrence, whom they still regarded as their pre- ceptor in the siege . they were. Major Polier; the Captains Pascal), Charle>s 458 T^e War of Coromandel. Book X. 1759 Charles Campbell, Beaver, Richard Smith, Gurtler, de Beck, Freishman, Vasserot, Black, Hume, Donald Campbell, Greig. February. , , a o Every repair and additional work was executed with regularity and dispatch under the direction of Mr. Call the chief engineer, although this was the first siege, whether offensive or defensive, in which he had served. Captain Hislop, who arrived with a company of the King’s artillery-men, at the same time as Adlercron’s regi- ment, was the senior officer in this branch ; he had served in Bergen- o*p-zoom. The Company’s artillery, which furnished all the cannon and ammunition, was commanded by Captain Robert Barker : even the enemy acknowledged that the promptitude and execution of the fire from the fort was superior to their own : whatsoever guns or mortars were disabled on the defences, were immediately replaced by others prepared in store : Colonel Draper and Major Brereton were of the King’s troops : so that no town was over attacked, which had in proportion to the garrison such a number of excellent and ex- perienced officers. The exertions of Major Calliaud and Captain Preston were equal in the field. Thus every officer of distinction on the establishment of Coromandel was employed in the defence of Madrass, excepting Captain Joseph Smith, to whom was committed the preservation of the next important object, Tritchinopoly, in which the French prisoners out-numbered, five to one, the invalid Europeans of his garrison. In the evening, after the enemy retreated, came in Vasserot and the ten troopers with intelligence from Calliaud. This officer marched from Chinglapet on the 13th, but misled by the guides* did not arrive at Sadrass, as he intended, the next night, but the morning after ; when the Dutch residents, although remaining in the town only on sufferance from the French, who were in possession of their fort, protested against his entrance with hostile appearance on the territory belonging to the Dutch company. At the same time a party of French troops, which were halting there in their way from Pondicherry to join Mr. Lally, went into the fort, and this reinforcement rendered the attempt impracticable excepting by a regular attack, to which the artillery with Calliaud was not adequate. Book X. Siege of Fort St. George. 459 adequate. He nevertheless remained to invest the fort, and soon 1759 after intercepted a letter from Mr. Lally to Mr. Deleyiit, dated the 14th, written in the bitterest terms of reproacli and resentment, imputing the failure of his attempt against Madrass, which he then saw inevitable, to the iniquities and treachery of the government of Pondicherry, denouncing, that if this place should escape the ven- geance it merited of fire from heaven, nothing could preserve it long from destruction by the fire of the English. The loss of men sustained by the French army is no where ac- quired ; they were 2700 firelocks when they advanced from Conje- veram ; and Mr. Lally, hi the intercepted letter, says, that he had still 2000 Europeans ; the Sepoys with him were not more than 1000, for several detachments were abroad. The loss of the cannon and ammunition which had been left or thrown away, he imputed to the want of serviceable bullocks, and this deficiency to the ra- pacity of the contractors leagued with the council of Pondicherry. His army marched away in rags, and without provisions, but, having gunpowder and horse, exacted them, and continued their rout to Arcot Advices of their retreat had been sent off to Calliaud as soon as they disappeared, who immediately on the information detached Mahomed Jssoof with 1200 Sepoys from Sadrass, to re- inforce Chinglapet, lest the French army should invest this place ; the Sepoys by a forced march arrived before the enemy could have intercepted them, if such had been their intention: the next day Major Calliaud, with the remaining six companies of Sepoys, and all the cavalry, Abdulwahab at the head of his own, came into Madrass. Thus ended this siege, without doubt the most strenuous and regular that had ever been carried on in India ; and we have detailed it, in hopes that it may remain an example and incitement. End of the Tenth Book. BOOK BOOK XL T^OT only the Carnatic and its dependencies, but all the adja- 1759 cent powers, had fixed their attention, with various hope and anxiety, on the siege of Madrass, as an event which sooner or later must greatly affect their respective views and interests. It was be- lieved, and justly, that much and extensive reputation would be ac- quired by the defence ; but as this advantage would soon be lost if the adjacent territory were not recovered and protected, it was re- solved to take the field without delay. With the reinforcement brought in the ships, there were in the town when the siege was raised, of all ranks, 1 900 estimated Europeans, including 90 Topasses and 60 Coffress, inserted in the different companies : of this number 1500 rank and file were fit for immediate duty ; and this force was sufficient to face the French army. Nevertheless, the Vigour of the determination exceeded the means : many carriages for the artillery and stores were to be prepared, and the artificers being mostly natives were few, and had much other work to do : draught and carriage bullocks were to be provided, and the ravages of the enemy had left none in the country ; provisions were equally scarce : perseverance, however, continued. Chinglapet being secured, the rest of the troops with Mahomed Issoof, the horse with Abdulwahab, and those sent with Major Calliaud by Tondiman and Tan j ore, encamped on the Choultry plain, were they were joined day by day by the Europeans of the garrison ; but the whole were not ready to move before the Gth of March, and in this interval arrived two more com- March VoL. IT 3 N panics 4G2 The War of Coromandel. " Book XL 1759 panics of Draper’s regiment, which the ships they came in from IJngland had carried to Bengal in the latter season of the last year, and they were now returned to the coast. The whole force which now took the field were 1156 Europeans, rank and file, including the artillery-men, with 10 field-pieces, of which two were 12- pounders, 1570 Sepoys, 1120 Colleries, and 1956 horse. On news of their approach, Mr. Whilst the army was before Conjeveram, letters were received from Colonel Forde, who was set down before Masulipatam, despairing of success, unless he were reinforced with men and supplied with money. By this time, it was found that all the resources of the Presidency were inadequate to the expence of keeping the army in the field, and no pro- bability appeared of gaining a decisive advantage over tlie enemy. The Presidency therefore inclined to bring the troops into cantonments, and to send 200 men to Colonel Forde. Colonel Lawrence, although convinced of the imprudence of attacking the enemy in the posts they occupied at Conjeveram, was equally persuaded of the evil con- 6 sequences Book XL The Carnatic. 463 sequences of retreating before them, and came to Madrass on the 1759 26 th, to dissuade the Council, either from diminishing their force, or from withdrawing it into garrison ; and his arguments prevailed. He then declared the inability to which the impaired state of his health had reduced him, of continuing in the command ot the army ; and received the highest regrets and encomiums of his eminent ser- vices, crowned by exertions much beyond his age in the defence of Madrass. The command then devolved to Lieutenant-colonel Draper, who was likewise too ill to accept it, and soon after embarked for England ; on which it fell to Major Brereton, the next officer in the king’s regiment, and Major Calliaud succeeded Colonel Lawrence in the distinct command of the Company’s troops. Nazeabullah, the Nabob’s brother, had accompanied the French army to Madrass, and remained some days with them in the black town ; when his own affairs, his doubts of the success of the siege, and the representations and example of his brother, Abdulwahab, who was joining the English troops in the field, induced him to return to Nelore, which, Mr. Lally having derived no advantage from his presence or endeavours, permitted without reluctance. Still, however, holding fair to the French, he retained a few of their Europeans, and 200 of their Sepoys ; but as soon as he heard that the siege was raised, he resolved to declare entirely for the English, and blackened his zeal, by putting to death all the French Europeans, excepting their officer, Saint Denys. It is not known whether they attempted resistance ; but the Sepoys laid down their arms, and were quietly turned out of the fort. With the advices of this deed, he proffered to pay 30,000 pagodas a year, if the Pre- sidency would confirm him in the government of Nelore, and its districts ; and, as no revenue, excepting from his good-will, was to be expected from that part of the country, until the English army had gained the superiority, his terms were accepted, and he sent the French officer to Madrass. Abdulwahab continued with the army, and his services were rewarded by a confirmation of the districts of Chandergherry and Chittore. The three greater Polygars to the 3 N 2 north- The War of Coromandel. Book XL 4G4 1759 northward, Bangar-yatchnm, Bomrauze, and Damerlah Venkytap- pah, wrote letters of congratulation, although they had given no assistance during the siege : they were ordered to guard their own hills, and assist Chandergherry and Chittore, if attacked. The minor Polygars nearer Madrass were frightened, in expectation of punish- ment for the robberies they had committed in the English dis- tricts during the distresses of the siege; but their delinquency was overlooked, and they were told to assist the forts of Ponda- malee and Tripassore, into which garrisons of Sepoys had been sent, as soon as they were abandoned by the enemy in their retreat to Arcot Even the cautious Mortizally of Vellore congratulated the Presi- dency on the repulse of the siege The body of Morattoes, with Gopaul Row, who had in the preceding year warred and gained the half of Cudapah, and to whom proffers had been made for their as- sistance, remained at the passess of Damalcherry, waiting the event ; and as soon as the French retreated, Gopaul Row claimed 12 lacks of rupees, alleging that he had neglected other concerns of greater consequence, in expectation of the ultimate summons of the Presi- dency, and that the dread of his troops had obliged the French to raise the siege. It w^is known that he had equally been offering his assistance to the French, and the Presidency recommended to him, to cut their army to pieces before they reached Pondicherry, and then he should have the money. He replied, in several letters, fraught with insinuations of the mischief he intended to bring on the English, as well at Bombay, as in the Carnatic ; and sent 500 of his Morat- toes to join the French army ; but Mr. Deleyrit, the governor of Pondicherry, advised Mr. Lally not to entertain them, because they would not fail to plunder with greater detriment in the French dis- tricts, as more extensive, than in those which the English had reco- vered. They were dismissed with compliments and a small present, on which Gopaul Row, to compensate and revenge the disappoint- ment, sent a detachment round the hills, which took possession of the town and pagoda of Tripetty, intending to collect the revenues of the approaching feast in April, which the French government expected Book XL Tanjore. Tritchinopoly. 4C5 expected to receive. This detachment in their way summoned the 1759 three northern Polygars as friends to the English, to pay their shares of the chout, or tribute, which Gopaul Row had demanded, and had not time to exact in the preceding year. The king of Tanjore fired guns, and congratulated on the fortune and prowess of Madrass ; and the Presidency, encouraged by his pro- fessions, proposed to him to assist them in a plan to surprise the fort of Karical, when the squadron should arrive on the coast : to which he answered, that the last hostilities of the French had ruined his coun- try, and that the crop at present on the ground would likewise be de- stroyed, if disturbances were renewed ; but that, as the English had beat off the French army from Madrass, they should immediately drive them out of Pondicherry, when Karical would fall of course. He was then requested to let beeves be purchased in his country as provisions for the squadron ; which the strictness of his religion re- garded as an abomination, nor would he suffer the interpreter to go on in reading the letter written to him on this subject. The Nabob, ever since his arrival at Tritchinopoly, had continued sick. His disorder was a jaundice, produced by excess of vexation at the late humiliations of his fortune : the repulse of the French attack on Madrass conduced not a little to the recovery of his health ; but his mind retained much solicitude for every future contingency. However, the vigilance of Captain Joseph Smith had preserved the districts dependant on the city in peace and cultivation, and their revenues were more than sufficient to defray the necessary ex- pences of the garrison, as well as of the Nabob’s family. The great number of French prisoners in the city, who were 500, whilst the European force in the garrison did not exceed 70 men, had been an object of constant anxiety, and plots were continually discovered of their intentions to break out of their dungeons; which obliged Captain Smith to confine them with the utmost se- verity. The Rheddi of Terriore, whom he had driven out of that town and district in the month of July of the preceding year, went away with those who escaped with him, to the borders of the Mysore country, where he was, at different times, joined by such as were 46G The Wae of Coeomandel. Book XL 1759 Mtroh. were disaffected to the other Rheddi, who had been restored in his ' stead. They sometimes made plundering excursions into the coun- try between Teniore and Utatore; but attempted nothing of conse- quence. However, their numbers increased; and they kept up a correspondence with several of the principal men who continued to reside with the Rheddi in Terriore. When Mahomed Issoof march- ed away in November to the relief of Madrass, the garrison of Tritchinopoly could not spare the number of Sepoys necessary to complete his command, and three of the five companies which had been left in Terriore, were recalled to make up the deficiency. As soon as they were gone, the expelled Rheddi, with his troops, who were waiting to retake the place, arrived before they were discovered at the barrier of the wood, where some of the remaining Sepoys were stationed ; but the rest of the guard had been seduced, and instead of assisting the Sepoys, turned their arms upon them, and deli- vered up the barrier to the enemy, who marched on, and ad- vanced to the town without interruption, sending so much terror before them, that the Rheddi within, with his troops, and the in- habitants, that adhered to him, ran away into the wood and hills, leaving the English serjeant, with the Sejoys, to defend them- selves as they could. The serjeant took possession of the palace, which was an extensive building ; but the enemy surrounded it in the houses on all sides, that not a man could appear who was not exposed to their fire, which obliged the serjeant to capitulate, and he easily obtained permission to march away to Tritchinopoly, with their arms, and whatever else they chose to carry. Captain Joseph Smith had received some intelligence of the intention to attack the place, and had detached some tioops to reinforce it, but it was lost before they arrived at the wood. This event happened in the end of No- vember. 