The troops from Arcot had already moved some distance on their way to
Madras, and Clive, therefore, with the new levies, joined them on the
day after his leaving Madras. The French and Riza Sahib let slip the
opportunity of attacking these bodies, before they united. They were
well aware of their movements, and had resolved upon tactics,
calculated in the first place to puzzle the English commander, to wear
out his troops, and to enable them finally to surprise and take him
entirely at a disadvantage.
The junction with the Arcot garrison raised the force under Clive's
orders to three hundred and eighty English, thirteen hundred Sepoys,
and six field guns, while the enemy at Vendalur, a place twenty-five
miles south of Madras, where they had a fortified camp, had four
hundred French troops, two thousand Sepoys, two thousand five hundred
cavalry, and twelve guns.
Hoping to surprise them there, Clive marched all night. When the force
approached the town they heard that the enemy had disappeared, and
that they had started, apparently, in several directions.
The force was halted for a few hours, and then the news was obtained
that the enemy had united their forces at Conjeveram, and that they
had marched away from that place in a westerly direction. Doubting not
that they were about to attack Arcot, which, weakened by the departure
of the greater portion of its garrison, would be in no position to
defend itself against a sudden coup de main by a strong force, Clive
set his troops again in motion. The French, indeed, had already bribed
some of the native soldiers within the fort; who were to reply to a
signal made without, if they were in a position to open the gates.
However, by good fortune their treachery had been discovered, and when
the French arrived they received no reply to their signal; and as
Arcot would be sure to fall if they defeated Clive, they marched away
without attacking it, to take up the position which they had agreed
upon beforehand.
It was at nine in the evening that Clive, at Vendalur, obtained
intelligence that the enemy had assembled at Conjeveram. The troops
had already marched twenty-five miles, but they had had a rest of five
hours, and Clive started with them at once, and reached Conjeveram,
twenty miles distant, at four in the morning. Finding that the enemy
had again disappeared, he ordered the troops to halt for a few hours.
They had already marched forty-five miles in twenty-four hours, a
great feat when it is remembered that only the Arcot garrison were in
any way accustomed to fatigue, the others being newly raised levies.
The greater portion of the Sepoys had been enlisted within the
fortnight preceding.
"I don't know, Mr. Marryat, whether the French call this fighting. I
call it playing hide and seek," Tim Kelly said. "Shure we've bin
marching, with only a halt of two or three hours, since yisterday
morning; and my poor feet are that sore that I daren't take my boots
off me, for I'm shure I'd never git 'em on agin. If the French want to
fight us, why don't they do it square and honest, not be racing and
chasing about like a lot of wild sheep."
"Have you seen the moonshee, Tim? He is with the baggage."
"Shure and I saw him," Tim said. "The cart come in just now, and there
was he, perched up on the top of it like a dried monkey. You don't
want him tonight, shure, yer honor."
"Oh no, I don't want him, Tim. You'd better go now, and get to sleep
at once, if you can. We may be off again, at any minute."
Arcot is twenty-seven miles from Conjeveram. Clive felt certain that
the enemy had gone on to that place; but, anxious as he was for its
safety, it was absolutely necessary that the troops should have a rest
before starting on such a march. They were, therefore, allowed to rest
until twelve o'clock; when, refreshed by their eight hours' halt and
breakfast, they started upon their long march towards Arcot, making
sure that they should not find the enemy until they reached that
place.
Had Clive possessed a body of cavalry, however small, he would have
been able to scour the country, and to make himself acquainted with
the real position of the French. Cavalry are to a general what eyes
are to a man, and without these he is liable to tumble into a pitfall.
Such was the case on the present occasion. Having no doubt that the
enemy were engaged in attacking Arcot, the troops were plodding along
carelessly and in loose order; when, to their astonishment, after a
sixteen-mile march, as they approached the town of Kavaripak just as
the sun was setting, a fire of artillery opened upon them from a grove
upon the right of the road, but two hundred and fifty yards distant.
Nothing is more confusing than a surprise of this kind, especially to
young troops, and when no enemy is thought to be near.
The French general's plans had been well laid. He had reached
Kavaripak that morning, and allowed his troops to rest all day, and he
expected to obtain an easy victory over the tired men who would,
unsuspicious of danger, be pressing on to the relief of Arcot. So far
his calculations had been correct, and the English marched
unsuspiciously into the trap laid for them.
The twelve French guns were placed in a grove, round whose sides,
facing the point from which Clive was approaching, ran a deep ditch
with a high bank forming a regular battery. A body of French infantry
were placed in support of the guns, with some Sepoys in reserve behind
the grove. Parallel with the road on the left ran a deep watercourse,
now empty, and in this the rest of the infantry were stationed, at a
point near the town of Kavaripak, and about a quarter of a mile
further back than the grove. On either side of this watercourse the
enemy had placed his powerful cavalry force.
For a moment, when the guns opened, there was confusion and panic
among the British troops. Clive, however, ever cool and confident in
danger, and well seconded by his officers, rallied them at once. The
position was one of extreme danger. It was possible, indeed, to
retreat, but in the face of an enemy superior in infantry and guns,
and possessing so powerful a body of cavalry, the operation would have
been a very dangerous one. Even if accomplished, it would entail an
immense loss of morale and prestige to his troops. Hitherto, under his
leading, they had been always successful; and a belief in his own
superiority adds immensely to the fighting power of a soldier. Even
should the remnant of the force fight its way back to Madras, the
campaign would have been a lost one, and all hope of saving
Trichinopoli would have been at an end.
"Steady, lads, steady," he shouted. "Form up quietly and steadily. We
have beaten the enemy before, you know, and we will do so again."
While the troops, in spite of the artillery fire, fell into line,
Clive rapidly surveyed the ground. He saw the enemy's infantry
advancing up the watercourse, and so sheltered by it as to be out of
the fire of his troops. He saw their cavalry sweeping down on the
other side of the watercourse, menacing his left and threatening his
baggage. The guns were at once brought up from the rear, but before
these arrived the men were falling fast.
Three of the guns he placed to answer the French battery, two of them
he hurried to his left, with a small body of English and two hundred
Sepoys, to check the advance of the enemy's cavalry. The main body of
his infantry he ordered into the watercourse, which afforded them a
shelter from the enemy's artillery. The baggage carts and baggage he
sent half a mile to the rear, under the protection of forty Sepoys and
a gun.
While this was being done the enemy's fire was continuing, but his
infantry advanced but slowly, and had not reached a point abreast of
the grove when the British force in the watercourse met them. It would
not seem to be a very important matter, at what point in the
watercourse the infantry of the two opposing parties came into
collision, but matters apparently trifling in themselves often decide
the fate of battles; and, in fact, had the French artillery retained
their fire until their infantry were abreast of the grove, the battle
of Kavaripak would have been won by them, and the British power in
Southern India would have been destroyed.
Clive moved confidently and resolutely among his men, keeping up their
courage by cheerful words, and he was well seconded by his officers.
"Now, lads," Charlie Marryat cried to the company of which he was in
command, "stick to it. You ought to be very thankful to the French,
for saving you the trouble of having to march another twelve miles
before giving you an opportunity of thrashing them."
The men laughed, and redoubled their fire on the French infantry, who
were facing them in the watercourse at a distance of eighty yards.
Neither party liked to charge. The French commander knew that he had
only to hold his position to win the day. His guns were mowing down
the English artillerymen. The English party on the left of the
watercourse, with difficulty, held their own against the charges of
his horsemen, and were rapidly dwindling away under the artillery
fire, while other bodies of his cavalry had surrounded the baggage,
and were attacking the little force told off to guard it. He knew,
too, that any attempt the English might make to attack the battery,
with its strong defences, must inevitably fail.
The situation was becoming desperate. It was now ten o'clock. The
fight had gone on for four hours. No advantage had been gained, the
men were losing confidence, and the position grew more and more
desperate. Clive saw that there was but one chance of victory. The
grove could not be carried in the front, but it was just possible that
it might be open in the rear.
Choosing a sergeant who spoke the native language well, he bade him
leave the party in the watercourse, and make his way round to the rear
of the grove, and discover whether it was strongly guarded there or
not. In twenty minutes, the sergeant returned with the news that there
was no strong force there.
Clive at once took two hundred of his English infantry, the men who
had fought at Arcot, and quietly left the watercourse and made his way
round towards the rear of the grove. Before he had gone far the main
body in the watercourse, surprised at the sudden withdrawal of the
greater portion of the English force, and missing the presence of
Clive himself, began to lose heart. They no longer replied
energetically to the fire of the French infantry. A movement of
retreat began, the fire ceased, and in a minute or two they would have
broken in flight.
At this moment, Clive returned. As he moved forward, he had marked the
dying away of the English fire, and guessing what had happened, had
given over the command of the column to Lieutenant Keene, the senior
officer, and hurried back to the watercourse. He arrived there just as
the troops had commenced to run away.
Throwing himself among them, with shouts and exhortations, he
succeeded in arresting their flight; and, by assurances that the
battle was as good as won elsewhere, and that they had only to hold
their ground for a few minutes longer to ensure victory, he got them
to advance to their former position; and to reopen fire on the French,
who had, fortunately, remained inactive instead of advancing and
taking advantage of the cessation of the English fire.
In the meantime, Lieutenant Keene led his detachment, making a long
circuit, to a point three hundred yards immediately behind the grove.
He then sent forward one of his officers, Ensign Symmonds, who spoke
French perfectly, to reconnoitre the grove. Symmonds had proceeded but
a little way, when he came upon a large number of French Sepoys, who
were covering the rear of the grove; but who, as their services were
not required, were sheltering themselves there from the random bullets
which were flying about. They at once challenged; but Symmonds
answering them in French they, being unable to see his uniform in the
darkness, and supposing him to be a French officer, allowed him to
advance.
He passed boldly forward into the grove. He proceeded nearly through
it, until he came within sight of the guns, which were still keeping
up their fire upon those of the English; while a hundred French
infantry, who were in support, were all occupied in watching what was
going on in front of them. Symmonds returned to the detachment, by a
path to the right of that by which he had entered, and passed out
without seeing a soul.
Lieutenant Keene gave the word to advance and, following the guidance
of Mr. Symmonds, entered the grove. He advanced, unobserved, until
within thirty yards of the enemy. Here he halted, and poured a volley
into them.
The effect was instantaneous. Many of the French fell, and the rest,
astounded at this sudden and unexpected attack, left their guns and
fled. Sixty of them rushed for shelter into a building at the end of
the grove, where the English surrounded them and forced them to
surrender.
By this sudden stroke, the battle of Kavaripak was won. The sound of
the musketry fire, and the immediate cessation of that of the enemy's
guns, told Clive that the grove was captured. A few minutes later
fugitives, arriving from the grove, informed the commander of the
enemy's main body of infantry of the misfortune which had befallen
them. The French fire at once ceased, and the troops withdrew.
In the darkness, it was impossible for Clive to attempt a pursuit. He
was in ignorance of the direction the enemy had taken; his troops had
already marched sixty miles in two days; and he would, moreover, have
been exposed to sudden dashes of the enemy's cavalry. Clive,
therefore, united his troops, joined his baggage, which the little
guard had gallantly defended against the attacks of the enemy's
cavalry, and waited for morning.
At daybreak, not an enemy was to be seen. Fifty Frenchmen lay dead on
the field, and sixty were captives. Three hundred French Sepoys had
fallen. There were, besides, many wounded. The enemy's artillery had
been all captured. The British loss was forty English and thirty
Sepoys killed, and a great number of both wounded.
The moral effect of the victory was immense. It was the first time
that French and English soldiers had fought in the field against each
other, in India. The French had proved to the natives that they were
enormously their superiors in fighting power. Hitherto the English had
not done so. The defence of Arcot had proved that they could fight
behind walls; but the natives had, themselves, many examples of
gallant defences of this kind. The English troops, under Gingen and
Cope, had suffered themselves to be cooped up in Trichinopoli, and had
not struck a blow in its defence.
At Kavaripak, the natives discovered that the English could fight as
well, or better than the French. The latter were somewhat stronger,
numerically, than their rivals. They had double the force of
artillery, were half as strong again in Sepoys, and had two thousand
five hundred cavalry, while the English had not a single horseman.
They had all the advantages of surprise and position; and yet, they
had been entirely defeated.
Thenceforth the natives of India regarded the English as a people to
be feared and respected; and, for the first time, considered their
ultimate triumph over the French to be a possibility. As the policy of
the native princes had ever been to side with the strongest, the
advantage thus gained to the English cause, by the victory of
Kavaripak, was enormous.
On the following day, the English took possession of the fort of
Kavaripak, and marched to Arcot. Scarcely had they arrived there when
Clive received a despatch from Fort Saint David; ordering him to
return there at once, with all his troops; to march to the relief of
Trichinopoli, where the garrison was reported to be in the sorest
straits, from want of provisions.
The force reached Fort Saint David on the 11th of March. Here
preparations were hurried forward for the advance to Trichinopoli;
and, in three days, Clive was ready to start. Just as he was about to
set out, a ship arrived from England, having on board some more
troops, together with Major Lawrence and several officers, some of
whom were captains senior to Clive.
Major Lawrence, who had already proved his capacity and energy, of
course took command of the expedition; and treated Clive, who had
served under him at the siege of Pondicherry, and whose successes in
the field had attracted his high admiration, as second in command,
somewhat to the discontent of the officers senior to him in rank.
The force consisted of four hundred Europeans, eleven hundred Sepoys,
and eight guns, and escorted a large train of provisions and stores.
During these months which the diversion, caused by the attack of Riza
Sahib and the French upon Madras, had given to the besiegers of
Trichinopoli, they should have long since captured the town. In spite
of all the orders of Dupleix, Law could not bring himself to attack
the town; and the French governor of Pondicherry saw, with dismay,
that the two months and a half, which his efforts and energy had
gained for the besiegers, had been entirely wasted; and that it was
probable the whole fruits of his labours would be thrown away.
He now directed Law to leave only a small force in front of
Trichinopoli, and to march with the whole of his army, and that of
Chunda Sahib, and crush the force advancing under Lawrence to the
relief of Trichinopoli. Law, however, disobeyed orders; and, indeed,
acted in direct contradiction to them. He maintained six hundred
French troops and many thousands of native before Trichinopoli, and
sent but two hundred and fifty French, and about three hundred and
fifty natives--a force altogether inferior in numbers to that which it
was sent to oppose--to arrest the progress of Lawrence's advancing
column.
The position which this French force was directed to occupy was the
fort of Koiladi, an admirable position. As the two branches of the
Kavari were, here, but half a mile apart, had Law concentrated all his
force here he could, no doubt, have successfully opposed the English.
Lawrence, however, when the guns of the fort opened upon him, replied
to them by the fire of his artillery; and, as the French force was
insufficient to enable its commander to fight him in the open, he was
enabled to take his troops and convoy in safety past the fort. When
Law heard this, he marched out and took his position round a lofty
and almost inaccessible rock called Elmiseram, and prepared to give
battle.
Lawrence, however, after passing Koiladi, had been joined by a hundred
English and fifty dragoons, from Trichinopoli. These acted as guides,
and led him by a route by which he avoided the French position; and
effected a junction with two hundred Europeans, and four hundred
Sepoys from Trichinopoli; and with a body of Mahratta cavalry, under
Murari Reo.
Law, having failed to attack the English force upon its march, now,
when its strength was nearly doubled, suddenly decided to give battle,
and advanced against the force which, wearied with its long march, had
just begun to prepare their breakfast. The French artillery at once
put the Mahratta cavalry to flight.
Lawrence called the men again under arms, and sent Clive forward to
reconnoitre. He found the French infantry drawn up, with twenty-two
guns, with large bodies of cavalry on either flank. Opposite to the
centre of their position was a large caravansary, or native inn, with
stone buildings attached. It was nearer to their position than to that
occupied by the English, and Clive saw at once that, if seized and
held by the enemy's artillery, it would sweep the whole ground over
which the English would have to advance.
He galloped back at full speed to Major Lawrence, and asked leave at
once to occupy the building. Obtaining permission, he advanced with
all speed to the caravansary, with some guns and infantry.
The negligence of the French, in allowing this movement to be carried
out, was fatal to them. The English artillery opened upon them from
the cover of the inn and buildings, and to this fire the French in the
open could reply only at a great disadvantage. After a cannonade
lasting half an hour, the French, having lost forty European and three
hundred native soldiers, fell back; the English having lost only
twenty-one.
Disheartened at this result, utterly disappointed at the failure which
had attended his long operations against Trichinopoli, without energy
or decision, Law at once raised the siege of the town, abandoning a
great portion of his baggage; and, destroying great stores of
ammunition and supplies, crossed an arm of the Kavari and took post in
the great fortified temple of Seringam.
The delight of the troops; so long besieged in Trichinopoli; inactive,
dispirited, and hopeless, was extreme; and the exultation of Muhammud
Ali and his native allies was no less.
Captain Cope, towards the end of the siege, had been killed, in one of
the little skirmishes which occasionally took place with the French.
Charlie Marryat and Peters had, owing to some of the officers senior
to them being killed or invalided, and to large numbers of fresh
recruits being raised, received a step in rank. They were now
lieutenants, and each commanded a body of Sepoys, two hundred strong.
At Charlie's request, Tim Kelly was detached from his company, and
allowed to remain with him as soldier servant. After the retreat of
the French, and the settling down of the English force in the lines
they had occupied, Charlie and his friend entered Trichinopoli, and
were surprised at the temples and palaces there. Although very
inferior to Tanjore, and in no way even comparable to the cities of
the northwest of India, Trichinopoli was a far more important city
than any they had hitherto seen. They ascended the lofty rock, and
visited the fort on its summit, which looked as if, in the hands of a
resolute garrison, it should be impregnable to attack.
The manner in which this rock, as well as that of Elmiseram and others
lying in sight, rose sheer up from the plain, filled them with
surprise; for, although these natural rock fortresses are common
enough in India, they are almost without an example in Europe. After
visiting the fort they rambled through the town, and were amused at
the scene of bustle in its streets; and at the gay shops, full of
articles new and curious to them, in the bazaars.
"They are wonderfully clever and ingenious," Charlie said. "Look what
rough tools that man is working with, and what delicate and intricate
work he is turning out. If these fellows could but fight as well as
they work, and were but united among themselves, not only should we be
unable to set a foot in India, but the emperor, with the enormous
armies which he would be able to raise, would be able to threaten
Europe. I suppose they never have been really good fighting men.
Alexander, a couple of thousand years ago, defeated them; and since
then the Afghans, and other northern peoples, have been always
overrunning and conquering them.
"I can't make it out. These Sepoys, after only a few weeks' training,
fight almost as well as our own men. I wonder how it is that, when
commanded by their own countrymen, they are able to make so poor a
fight of it.
"We had better be going back to camp again, Peters. At any moment,
there may be orders for us to do something. With Major Lawrence and
Clive together, we are not likely to stop here long, inactive."