At last, weary of inactivity, the Marquis de Conflans and Colonel
Forde arrived simultaneously, on the 8th of December, at a
determination to bring matters to a crisis. Conflans had heard, from a
deserter, that Forde had omitted to occupy a mound which, at a short
distance from his camp, commanded the position. He determined to seize
this during the night, and to open fire with his guns, and that his
main army should take advantage of the confusion, which the sudden
attack would occasion, to fall upon the English. Forde, on his part,
had determined to march at four o'clock in the morning to a village
named Condore, three miles distant, whence he could threaten the
French flank.
Ignorant of each other's intentions, the English and French left their
camps at night. Forde marched at a quarter past four, as arranged with
Anandraz; but the rajah and his people, with the usual native aversion
to punctuality, remained quietly asleep, and a few minutes after
daybreak they were roughly awakened, by a deadly fire poured by six
guns into the camp. The rajah sent messenger after messenger to Forde,
urging him to return; and he himself, with his frightened army,
hurried towards Condore. Forde had, indeed, retraced his steps
immediately he heard the fire of the guns, and soon met the rajah's
rabble in full flight; and, uniting with them, marched back to
Condore.
Conflans supposed that the fire of his guns had driven the whole of
his opponents in a panic from Chambol; and, determining to take
advantage of the confusion, marched with his force against them. Forde
at once prepared for the battle. In the centre he placed the English,
including the rajah's forty Europeans. Next to these, on either side,
he placed his Sepoys, and posted the troops of Anandraz on the right
and left flanks. He then advanced towards the enemy.
The French guns opened fire. Forde halted. In the position in which he
found himself, his centre occupied a field of Indian corn, so high
that they were concealed from the enemy. Conflans had moved towards
the English left, with the intention, apparently, of turning that
flank; and after the artillery battle on both sides had continued for
forty minutes, he ordered his troops to advance.
In Madras, both the English and French dress their Sepoys in white. In
Bengal, however, since the raising of Sepoy regiments after the
recapture of Calcutta, the English had clothed them in red. Conflans,
therefore, thought that the force he was about to attack was the
English contingent; and that, if he could 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
garrison, who had nearly expended their supply. The native boats went
off from the fort, and brought on shore the ammunition and stores.
In the afternoon the Shaftesbury was attacked by the two French ships,
the Bristol and the Harlem. She fought them for two hours, and then
sailed in and anchored again near the fort. The French ships lay off
at a distance, and these and one of their batteries played upon the
Shaftesbury after she had anchored, and continued to do so for the
next three days.
Many of the guns of the fort were dismounted by the artillery fire,
which had continued, with scarcely any intermission, for a month. The
parapets of the ramparts were in many places beaten down, and the
walls exposed to the enemy's fire greatly damaged. The enemy now
opened their breaching battery close to the works, and on the 7th two
breaches had been effected, and Lally ordered his principal engineer
and artillery officers to give their opinion as to the practicability
of an assault.
These, however, considered that the assault would have no prospect of
success, as the guns commanding the ditch were still uninjured, and
the palisades which stormers must climb over before reaching the
breach untouched. So heavy a crossfire could be brought to bear by the
besieged upon an assaulting column, that it would be swept away before
it could mount the breach. These officers added their opinion that,
considering the number of men defending the fort in comparison with
those attacking it, final success could not be looked for, and further
prosecution of the works would only entail a useless loss of life.
On the 9th of February, the French attacked Mahomed Issoof's men and
those of Captain Preston; the whole under the command of Major
Calliaud, who had come up from Trichinopoli, and had taken station
three miles in rear of the French position. The greater part of the
natives, as usual, behaved badly; but Calliaud, with the artillery and
a few Sepoys, defended himself till nightfall; and then drew off.
For the next week the French continued to fire, and their approaches
were pushed on. Several sorties were made, but matters remained
unchanged until the 14th, when six English ships were seen standing
into the roads; and that night the French drew out from their
trenches, and retreated. The next morning six hundred troops landed
from the ships, and the garrison, who had so stoutly resisted the
assaults made upon them for forty-two days, sallied out to inspect the
enemy's works. Fifty-two cannon were left in them, and so great was
the hurry with which the French retreated that they left forty-four
sick in the hospital behind.
The fort fired, during the siege, 26,554 rounds from their cannon,
7502 shells, threw 1990 hand grenades, and expended 200,000 musketry
cartridges. Thirty pieces of cannon and five mortars had been
dismounted during the siege. Of the Europeans, the loss in killed,
wounded, and prisoners was five hundred and seventy-nine. Three
hundred and twenty-two Sepoys were killed and wounded, and four
hundred and forty deserted during the siege.
In spite of the resolution with which the French had pushed the siege,
it was, from the first, destined to failure. The garrison were well
provisioned, had great stores of ammunition, and plenty of spare
cannon to replace those disabled or dismounted. The works were strong,
and the garrison not greatly inferior in number to the besiegers. The
French, on the other hand, had to bring their artillery, ammunition,
and stores by water from Pondicherry; and the activity of the English
parties in their rear rendered it extremely difficult for them to
receive supplies of food, by land. Lally had disgusted even the French
officers and soldiers by his arrogance, and passionate temper; while
by the Sepoys he was absolutely hated.
During the siege, Charlie had been most active in the defence. Colonel
Lawrence had assigned no special post to him, but used him as what
would now be called his chief of the staff. He was ever where the fire
was thickest, encouraging the men; and, during the intervals of
comparative cessation of fire, he went about the fort, seeing to the
comforts of the men in their quarters, to the issue of stores, and
other matters.
Upon the very morning after the French had withdrawn, he asked to be
allowed to rejoin his troop, which was with Major Calliaud, and at
once started to rejoin Colonel Forde. He wished to take the whole of
his corps with him; but Colonel Lawrence considered that these would
be of extreme use in following up the French, and in subsequent
operations, as cavalry was an arm in which the English were greatly
deficient.
Colonel Forde had been terribly delayed by the conduct of Rajah
Anandraz, and the delay enabled the French again to recover heart. He
was not able to move forward until the 1st of March. On the 6th he
arrived before Masulipatam, and the following day Charlie joined him,
with his troop.
The fort of Masulipatam stood in an extremely defensible position. It
was surrounded by a swamp, on three sides. The other face rested on
the river. From the land side, it was only approachable by a causeway
across the swamp, and this was guarded by a strong ravelin, which is
the military name for an outwork erected beyond the ditch of a
fortress. It was, in all respects, capable of a prolonged defence. In
form it was an irregular parallelogram, about eight hundred yards in
length and six hundred yards wide, and on the walls were eleven strong
bastions. The morass which surrounded it was of from three to eighteen
feet in depth.
On the approach of Forde, Conflans evacuated the town; which, also
surrounded by swamps, and lying two miles to the northwest of the
fort, was itself a most defensible position; and retired across the
narrow causeway, more than a mile long, to the fort.