A. D. 1772-1775. CHAPTER XVII. REDUCTION OF TANJORE. Mohammed Ally's Agent in England-Powers given to Sir John Lindsay-Reduction of Tanjore-Mr. Paul Benfield -Arrest and Death of Lord Pigot-Strange Conduct of Hastings-Capture of the French Possessions- Quarrel with the Nizâm-War with Hyder Ally-Destruction of Baillie's Detachment-Arrival of Coote-Defence of Wandewash-Victories of the English-Lord Macartney-Reduction of the Dutch Settlements-Destruction of Braithwaite's Detachment-Encounters of French and English Fleets-Storm and Famine at Madras-Death of HyderDeath of Coote-Attack on Cuddalore-Dismissal of Gen. Stuart-Operations on West Coast-Surrender of Bednore -Of Mangelore-Peace with Tippoo. In the Carnatic, to which we now return, events of importance had been taking place, and war, with all its horrors, had been renewed. A Scottish adventurer in India, named John Macpherson, having ingratiated himself with Mohammed Ally, was empowered by him to go to England and try to obtain from the crown the justice which he fancied was denied him by the Company. The Duke of Grafton was premier when Macpherson arrived in England; and in his interviews with this minister, he did not suffer truth to stand in his way when pleading the cause of his employer, whom he represented as a man of unsullied honour, an accomplished statesman and gentleman, one to whom Britain owed the rise of her power in India. He had even the courage to offer the duke what he calls "the credential presents " of Mohammed Ally; and on his refusal, he endeavoured to force them on his secretary, Mr. Bradshaw, but without effect. He then offered, in the name of the Nabob (who was a beggar), to invest seventy lacs of rupees in any funds the minister would name, or to lend that or even a larger sum to government at two per cent. He wrote pamphlets and articles in newspapers, and caused them to be written by others. He sought by all means to cause dissension between the ministry and the Company, and at length succeeded so far that the ministry resolved to support Mohammed Ally. The mode of carrying their resolution into effect adopted by the ministry, was not a very creditable one. The Directors having applied to them for some ships of the line, they agreed to give them, provided their commander should have a large and conspicuous share in all treaties with native princes, as, by the peace of Paris, they said, the crown was bound to maintain the rights of certain Indian princes. The Directors refused; the ministry affected to acquiesce, but they secretly gave these powers to Sir John Lindsay, who was sent out in command. This officer arrived at Madras on the 26th July, 1770, and astonished the servants of the Company by announcing his powers, and calling on them to appear in his train when he went in state to deliver to the Nabob his Majesty's letter and presents. They declined, assigning very sufficient reasons. In the correspondence which ensued, Sir John exhibited abundance of the unreasoning insolence then almost characteristic of the British naval commanders. He attached him. self blindly to the cause of the Nabob, lent a credulous ear to all the representations of him, and 113 the flock of European vultures which filled his court; and in his letters home to the ministers, represented him as the most excellent and the most ill-used of princes. In the treaty concluded with Hyder Ally there was, as we have seen, a stipulation of defensive alliance, and at this time, being hard pressed by the Marattas, he called on the English for aid, to which he had a manifest right. At the same time the Marattas, by threats of invading the Carnatic, tried to draw the English to their side. The Nabob, supported by Lindsay, was urgent with the presidency to join the Marattas; but they decided on neutrality, inclining rather to the side of Hyder. Meantime the ministry, somewhat alarmed at the accounts of the dissensions at Madras, adopted the sage expedient of recalling the person, but leaving the authority. The result was what any person of sense might have anticipated. Lindsay's successor, Sir Robert Harland, proved to be violent and intemperate, even beyond his predecessor. He zealously seconded the Nabob in his efforts to make the presidency accept the alliance of the Marattas, who were now masters of all Mysore except the fortresses; but they still remained firm, and at length, in 1772, the Marattas were induced to conclude a peace with Hyder on receiving from him both money and territory to a large amount. Mohammed Ally, amidst all his difficulties, had never his eyes off the fertile little realm of Tanjore, on which in reality he had no just claim whatever. In 1771, he induced the presidency to aid him in overrunning that kingdom. Toward the end of September, Gen. Smith reduced the strong fortress of Vellum; he then marched against the city of Tanjore. By the end of October his batteries had effected a breach, and he was preparing to storm, when he learned that Omdut-ulOmrah, the Nabob's son, by whom he was accompanied, had concluded a peace with the rajah, and thus deprived the troops of the plunder they had expected. 66 The rajah had, of course, been obliged to promise to pay large sums of money. In 1773 his debt was brought down to ten lacs of rupees. He either actually had applied to the Marattas and Hyder for protection, or, as it is asserted, the artifices of the Nabob had made the Presidency believe he had done so, conduct which they themselves declared was not to be at all wondered at, as they could not support him against the Nabob. Still they resolved to take the present opportunity of destroying him, lest, as they could not give him a firm promise of support in his just rights," he might on some future occasion join the French, or some native power. Actuated by these motives, they made all the requisite arrangements with the Nabob, and early in August, 1773, the British forces appeared before the city of Tanjore. On the 16th September the place was taken, by the stratagem of making the assault in the heat of the day, when the greater part of the garrison had retired for shelter or refreshment. The rajah and his family being made prisoners were delivered up to the Nabob, who was also put into possession of the whole of that prince's dominions. Owing to various causes it was not till April, 1775, that the Court of Directors were able to come to a decision on the subject. They then condemned the whole transaction as unjust and dan gerous, removed Mr. Wynch, the President, from his office, and reprimanded the other members of the Council. Lord Pigot+, who, by a vote of the proprietors, was appointed governor, was directed to restore the rajah of Tanjore, and to carry out all needful reforms in the affairs of the Company. Pigot, like Clive, on his arrival at Madras, in the end of 1775, found, as he says, that "a general reform was necessary, to preserve the Company from ruin ;" and he knew, of course, that his attempt to effect it would raise him a host of enemies. The first thing to be done was to restore the rajah; to prevent this the Nabob made every conceivable effort, using every argument that could be devised, but all in vain. In April, 1776, the governor went in person to Tanjore, and put the rajah in possession of his former dominions. The Company's troops were to protect the country, for which the rajah was to pay four lacs of pagodas a year. One of the reasons assigned by the Nabob, why he should not be deprived of Tanjore, was, that in that case he should not be able to pay the many Englishmen to whom he was indebted. While Lord Pigot was at Tanjore, he received a letter from a Mr. Paul Benfield, informing him that he had assignments on the revenues of Tanjore for 405,000 pagodas lent to the Nabob, and on the present crop, for 180,000 lent to individuals, in all equal to the no small sum of 234,000l. To any one curious to know who this man of wealth was, it may be replied, that he was a junior servant of the Company, with a salary of a few hundred pounds a year, and that he kept the finest horses and carriages in Madras. On the return of the governor to Madras, Mr. Benfield was called on to produce his vouchers, but he had none to produce. As to the debts of individuals, which had now dwindled down to 30,000 pagodas, he expected his bare word to be taken; and as to that of the Nabob, he referred to the books of the Cutcherry (which, however, were never produced), and he said the Nabob would acknowledge them. A majority of the Council, headed by Mr. Stratton, decided that they could not sanction any of his claims. Five days after, however, Mr. Benfield, having in the interval employed perhaps some arguments of known potency, this very same majority resolved against Lord Pigot, that the growing crops in Tanjore belonged to the Nabob, and that Benfield's claims against him were public, not merely private, and were therefore to be maintained. The next question was about a resident at Tanjore; Lord Pigot proposed Mr. Russell, a friend of his own; the majority supported Col. Stuart, who was to command the troops in Tanjore. Lord Pigot was now in the same condition as Warren Hastings, opposed by a violent, and apparently unprincipled majority; but he did not act with the same prudence as Hastings. Assuming that the President was an integrant part of the Council, and that no act was valid without his sanction, he resolved not to concur in measures he 4 The Mr. Pigot of the preceding pages. He had gone out as a writer to Madras, in 1736, and returned to England in 1763, with a fortune of 400,000l., almost wholly gained by private trade. He was first created a baronet, and then an Irish peer. did not approve. He therefore refused to sign the instructions to Col. Stuart, and a letter to the commandant at Tanjore. The majority hesitated, and the Council was adjourned for two days. When they again met (August 22), they resolved that the concurrence of the President was not necessary, and they wrote a letter to the secretary, directing him to sign those papers in the name of the Council. The letter was written, and two of them had signed it, when Lord Pigot snatched the paper, and produced a written charge against these two members for the act they were committing. As this charge precluded them from voting, the governor had now a majority by his casting vote, and it was voted to suspend them. When the Council met next day, the members of the late majority instead of attending, sent a protest declaring themselves the government, and claiming obedience from all persons in authority. By a vote of the Council they were then all suspended, and Sir Robert Fletcher 5, the commander-in-chief, was ordered into arrest, in order to be tried by courtmartial. The opposite party then resolved on the bold measure of arresting the governor himself. As Fletcher was ill, and so could not have the gratification of executing the mandate, it was given to Col. Stuart. This officer next day breakfasted and dined with Lord Pigot; he was also engaged to sup with him; and as they were going home together in his lordship's carriage it was stopped by the troops, whom the colonel had appointed for the service, and the arrest was made. It does not appear that the governor was treated with any harshness during the eight months that he was kept in custody, till released by death, brought on by wounded feelings, preying on a frame debilitated by age and the climate. As in all such cases, there were faults on both sides, but those of lord Pigot were venial in comparison. His last measures were all irregular and imprudent no doubt, but they did not justify in any degree the violence of his opponents. There is no proof of his having, as they asserted, urged the appointment of Mr. Russell with the design of drawing money from the rajah ; and his brother Adm. Pigot asserted in parliament that he was offered 600,000l. to delay his restoration. On the other side were the supporters of Benfield and the Nabob; and it was quite natural for them to desire to have a resident at Tanjore who would not oppose their views. It is remarkable, however, that their courage failed them; and they did not venture to carry out their resolution that the growing crops belonged to the nabob. They were left with the rajah, and Benfield's claim remained unsatisfied. It is remarkable also that Mr. Hastings, contrary 5 This exciter of mutiny (see p. 93), who, if he had had his deserts would have been shot, was actually some time before, by the influence of himself and friends in the Court of Proprietors, appointed to the chief command in Madras, with a seat in Council. True to his character, he soon quarrelled with the governor, and being ordered to Trichinopoly, he demanded a passage to England to attend his duty in Parliament, in which he, degraded as he had been, had a seat! He was told that he might perhaps have it, when he had set an example of military obedience. He then did obey, and soon the Council, out of respect to the House of Commons, permitted his departure. He had since returned, and acted as might have been expected. A. D. 1778. QUARREL WITH THE NIZAM. to what might have been anticipated, took a most decided part against Lord Pigot, readily acknowledged the authority of Mr. Stratton and the majority, and declared it to be his duty to encourage them by every means in his power, from dread of the evils of civil dissension; though he owns that he perceived that they "had personal interests to attend to, which might influence their public conduct," which probably means that he knew well the real state of things at Madras. But it is impossible to account for many of Hastings' acts. At home the deed was heard with both surprise and indignation. One-half of the Directors, however, were on the side of the usurpers; and it was only by a casting vote that the wish of the proprietors for the restoration of Lord Pigot, and the suspension of the majority, was carried; and a vote of censure was at the same time passed on Lord Pigot. Orders were sent out for Lord Pigot and the civilians of the majority to return to England", and the military officers concerned in the arrest and confinement were to be tried by court-martial in India. Mr. Rumbold was appointed to succeed Lord Pigot, Mr. Whitehill to be second in council, and Major-General Hector Munro to be commander-in-chief with the third seat in council. War having broke out between France and England in 1778, it was resolved to lose no time in reducing the French possessions in India. Chandernagore in Bengal offered no resistance, and in August Gen. Munro led his troops against Pondicherry; a small fleet under Sir Edward Vernon was to aid the attack. A French fleet under M. Tronjolly engaged that of Vernon, and having had the worst of it, retired to Pondicherry; but its commander feared to stay, and soon after, in the usual French way, stole away to the Islands. Munro having taken the boundary-hedge, erected his batteries, and played on the fort: the governor, M. Ballecont, made a gallant defence; but the English, though impeded by the weather, still gained ground, and Munro at length determined on a general assault. The governor, however, offered to capitulate. Very favourable terms were granted; the Europeans of the garrison were to be sent to France, the Sepoys to be disbanded. All marched out with the honours of war; the regiment of Pondicherry was allowed to retain its colours. The fortifications were afterwards destroyed. Caracal and Masulipatam had already surren. dered; and nothing remained to the French in India but Mahé, on the coast of Malabar. Though Hyder Ally declared that he would resent an attack on this place, it was resolved to make it. The command was given to Col. Braithwaite; the European troops were sent by sea, the Sepoys over land; they both reached safely the place of rendezvous, and Mahé surrendered (March 19, 1779,) before a shot was fired. As Braithwaite was ordered to join Gen. Goddard at Surat, the fort was blown up in November. But just then Braithwaite was summoned by the chief and the factory of Telicherry to their defence, against some native chiefs incited by Hyder, and other troops were sent from Madras to Bombay. The refusal of the English to aid him against 6 Stratton and three others were afterwards brought to trial in England, found guilty, and fined 10007. each! a mere trifle to men of their property. 115 the Marattas had long rankled in Hyder's mind; the capture of Mahé further annoyed him; and at length, an attempt to march troops through a part of his territory further exasperated him. The occasion was as follows. Basâlut Jung, who held the Guntoor circar, had some French in his service which the government of Madras wished to have removed, and applied to Nizam Ally for the purpose. He promised every thing, and did nothing. When the war with France broke out, a treaty was made with Basâlut Jung, by which he was to dismiss the French, and the Company were to send him some of their own troops. As it was apprehended that Hyder might make some attempt on his territories, a detachment was sent, under Lieut.-Col. Harper, which was to proceed from Guntoor to his other dominions. He expressed great joy at its approach, and pointed out the best route. But Harper soon discovered that this route led through Hyder's dominions, whose officers refused a passage. He sent to Madras for instructions, and was ordered to advance; he proceeded till he was near being surrounded, and he then fell back into Guntoor. There was at this time, as envoy from Madras, at the court of Nizâm Ally, Mr. Hollond, a civilian. As that prince complained that the tribute for the circars had been withheld, Hollond was directed to ascribe it to Basâlut Jung's encouragement of the French, but to assure him that it would be punctually paid in future. This was in the end of February, 1779; and in the beginning of the following June, Governor Rumbold gave it as his opinion that Nizâm Ally had no right to it, that it was disgraceful to them to pay it, and that they ought now, as the time was favourable, "to throw off so heavy a burden." The council gave a cheerful assent, and Mr. Hollond was instructed to break the matter to Nizâm Ally as gently as possible. But Nizâm Ally stormed, and would not be pacified, and menaced war if he were not paid. To any one who recollects the situation of the Company's affairs in India at the time, this conduct will appear little short of insanity; but cupidity is often blind. Hastings now resolved to interfere. He wrote to soothe the Nizâm, assuring him that he misconstrued the propositions made to him, and that the Company had no idea of receding from their treaty. When this was communicated to the government of Madras, Sir Thomas Rumbold (for he was now a baronet), who was just departing for Europe, proposed to recall and suspend Mr. Hollond. Mr. Whitehill, his successor, did so; but Mr. Hastings directed Hollond to remain, as representing the general government. When Basâlut Jung, in awe of Hyder and the Nizâm, demanded the restoration of Guntoor, the government of Madras refused, but that of Bengal gave orders to restore it. Up to the day of his leaving India, Sir Thomas Rumbold kept assuring the Directors that there was no danger of war in the Carnatic; and in his last minute in council, he declared that all was calm, and likely to remain so. Yet he must have known that all this was delusive; for he had already sent privately the celebrated missionary, Schwartz, and afterwards Mr. Gray, to Seringapatam; and he knew that Hyder's thoughts were any thing but pacific; and the Nabob, who usually had good intelligence, had informed him in November that Hyder, the Nizâm, and the Marattas, had formed a treaty to oppose the English. He, however, gave no heed, and he sailed home to enjoy his wealth, leaving others to reap the harvest of war whose seeds he had sown (1780). sembled near Conjeveram under the command of Lord Macleod; for the general was to remain at Madras to keep up the majority in the committees. But that officer declined the responsibility of executing a plan of which he did not approve, and the general himself was obliged to take the command. To maintain the majority still in committee, the novel plan was adopted of appointing a locum tenens for him till his return; and when a member made some severe remarks on such conduct, the majority suspended him, and the general sent him a challenge. Mr. Whitehill partook of this security. At length, about the middle of June, he was induced to make some slight exertion, and he sent orders to Col. Baillie, who commanded the troops in Guntoor, to recross the Kistna. On the 17th July, two members of the Select Committee urged to prepare against the danger of invasion, which they Sir Hector Munro soon found that he was wrong said was imminent; but the governor and the in making Conjeveram the place of rendezvous, general, who acted together, and who formed the and St. Thomas' Mount near Madras was fixed on. majority by the casting vote of the former, de- Here a force of upwards of 5000 men, of which clared these apprehensions groundless. On the about a third were English,was collected by draw21st, intelligence came from Amboor that Hydering troops from the garrisons; but instead of waitand the greater part of his army had descended ing for Col. Baillie, who, it is asserted, could have the pass; on the 23rd, Lord Macleod, who com- joined him there with safety, he marched (Aug. manded a regiment lately come from Europe, 26) for Conjeveram, directing Baillie to join him represented to the governor that that report might at that place. The swelling of a river had, howbe true, and that some measures for defence should ever, stopped that officer's march; and Hyder, be adopted. "What can we do? we have no leaving Arcot, which he was investing, came (Sept. money," was the reply. “We mean, however, to 3) and encamped within five miles of Munro's assemble an army, and you are to command it." army. On that very day, Baillie got over the Next day came news of Conjeveram, only fifty river, and when he had come to within about fifmiles from Madras, and Porto Novo, on the coast, teen miles of the main army, he was attacked by a having been plundered by the enemy. large force under Hyder's eldest son, Tippoo Saïb. After sustaining its assaults for several hours, he finally repelled it; but judging himself too weak to be able to force his way, he wrote on the 8th to Munro, asking him to advance to his aid. The latter, though he ran imminent risk of having his whole army destroyed by dividing it, sent Col. Fletcher forward that very night with a detachment of 1000 men. Hyder, whose information was most accurate, prepared to intercept them; but Fletcher, who, distrusting his guides, had taken a different road, eluded him, and joined Baillie in the morning. Hyder's European officers were quite confounded at this movement, which they regarded as a consummate piece of generalship with a view to a simultaneous attack in front and rear, and they advised an immediate retreat. But Hyder, whose spies assured him that the main army seemed to have no intention of moving, was of a different opinion, and he prepared to attack Baillie on his march. The army of Hyder counted 100,000 men. Of these, 20,000 were infantry, mostly commanded by Europeans; and he had also 10,000 Carnatie cavalry, who had been disciplined by the English for the Nabob, but had deserted or been disbanded. His artillery of 100 guns was served by Europeans, or by natives who also had been trained by the English; and the corps of 400 Europeans, commanded by M. Lally, which Basâlut Jung had been made to dismiss, was now in his service, His ravages were carried on in the same manner as in the preceding war. His cavalry spread in all directions; the towns, villages, and houses were burned, the crops were destroyed, and the people forced to fly to the woods with their cattle, or to seek refuge in Madras and other towns. Yet, though such devastation was committed, so much had the people suffered under the joint misgovernment of the English and the Nabob, that they almost looked upon Hyder as a deliverer, and conveyed to him the most accurate intelligence of the movements of the English troops. The governor and general resolved that the troops recalled from various parts should be as 7 During the brief period of his government he remitted to England 164,000l., though his salary was only 20,000l. a year, the sum now given to Presidents. He endeavoured to show that he had had for some years property to a large amount in Bengal; but, according to the new regulations, he should have given an account of that property on oath when he entered on his office, which he did not du. Mr. Wilson undertakes his defence in some measure, but he cannot show that he had more than 40,000l. in Bengal, in 1778; and as the whole salary which he received was only 49,000l., from which his living and other expenses were to be deducted, a large sum remains unaccounted for. The Directors dismissed him from their service; and he, Mr. Whitehill, and a Mr. Perring, were threatened with a bill of pains and penalties; but the proceedings were suddenly stopped, he himself perhaps could best tell how. At nine o'clock in the evening of the 9th, Baillie commenced his march. He soon fell in with the light troops of the enemy, who annoyed him for some way. The enemy at length brought some artillery to bear on them, but their guns were soon silenced by the superior firing of the English. For this purpose a halt had necessarily been made, but now, instead of seizing the opportunity of making a rapid advance so as to get within reach of the aid of the main army, Baillie committed the fatal error of prolonging the halt. This gave the enemy time to remove their cannon to another point, and enabled Hyder to bring his whole force down on them. At daybreak the march was resumed. A fire was opened on them from fifty pieces of cannon, while masses of horse and foot kept pressing on all sides. Nothing could exceed the steadiness of the British troops; they repelled all the attacks of the enemy, and Hyder was even thinking of drawing off his troops, when the blowing-up of two of their tumbrils deprived them of ammunition, and broke their line. Still the enemy feared to close, and kept up a perpetual discharge of cannon and rockets. At length when they had thus greatly diminished their numbers they began to charge them with columns of horse, while bodies of infantry kept up a constant fire. When the Sepoys had been nearly all destroyed or dispersed, and the Europeans were reduced to about 400, Baillie advanced waving his handkerchief as a demand for quarter, and supposing it granted, ordered his men to lay down their arms. But the savage troops of Hyder rushed on them now defenceless, and slaughtered them whole and wounded, sick and well alike; and but for the exertions of the French officers, not a man would probably have been spared. Of eighty-six British officers thirty-six were slain or died of their wounds, among the former was the gallant Fletcher, and only sixteen were unhurt. The whole number of Europeans who survived was about two hundred. In Hyder's bosom there dwelt no nobleness or generosity. The treatment of the prisoners was barbarous in the extreme. The wounded, after being left lying on the field for hours, were all crowded together in one tent and got no relief. The prisoners were then marched to Bangalore and other places, where they were kept till the end of the war, exposed to every indignity, insult, and degradation that could be devised, in order to force them to enter the tyrant's service and fight against their country. The only alleviation of their sufferings arose from the kindness and humanity of the French officers, without whose aid they must have perished. 8 Had Munro advanced and attacked Hyder's army while engaged with Baillie, the probability is, that it might have been totally routed and Baillie's detachment saved. But fear of losing some imaginary stores of paddy (for there really were none) paralyzed his movements; and after advancing some way and ascertaining at last (for he would not credit any account he got) the destruction of that force, he moved to Chingleput and thence to Mount St. Thomas, leaving behind him the sick and part of his baggage. At Madras all was grief and consternation, and had Hyder advanced with the whole of his army, there is no saying what might have been the consequence. When intelligence of these disasters in the Carnatic reached Bengal, Hastings resolved at once to make every effort to retrieve them. He moved that fifteen lacs of rupees, and troops, both European and native, should be sent to Madras, and Sir Eyre Coote be requested to take the command. He was also to have the control over the money that was supplied, and Mr. Whitehill was suspended for not having restored the Guntoor Circar. The Sepoys, as they had a prejudice against 8 Rice in the husk. 9 The Directors dismissed him their service, and he was afterwards included with Sir Thomas Rumbold and Mr. Perring in a bill of pains and penalties. He was also concerned in what is called the Noozeed affair. This related to a debt, said to have been due to him and some others by the zemindar of Noozeed, and which, by what Thornton styles "one of the most iniquitous acts ever passed," and of which he adds, "the cause is not easy to explain," parliament in 1832, in spite of the Company, compelled the people of 117 the sea, were to proceed by land; a fleet took Sir Eyre Coote and the Europeans on board, and they reached Madras on the 5th of November. Arcot had surrendered to Hyder just two days before, and his troops now cut off all communication between Madras and such places as still held out. Coote found the troops in want of almost every thing, so that immediate action was out of the question. The rainy season, however, formed a good excuse for delay, and by the end of the year the necessary preparations had been made. He then held a council of war composed of himself, Munro, Stuart, and Macleod, and laid a paper before them containing his plan of operations, and requesting their opinions separately in writing. His plan was approved unanimously by these officers, and also by the Select Committee, to whom also he communicated it; and it was resolved to proceed at once to the relief of the fortresses that were invested. Amboor, one of them, however, fell before the troops were able to take the field, which was not till the 17th January, 1781. The whole army did not exceed 7000 men, of whom not more than 1500 were Europeans. men. On the 19th, Chingleput was relieved; and the next night, a false report having reached the general that the enemy's garrison was quitting Carangoly, thirteen miles distant, and carrying off the grain, he sent 1000 men, under Capt. Davis, to stop them, while he himself advanced with the main army. Davis, on coming to the fort, found the report false and the garrison ready to receive him; but as there was no drawbridge, he ran a twelve-pounder up to the first gate, and blew it open so far as to admit a single man. He did the same with the second and third gates, though under a severe fire, which caused much loss of The garrison then made their escape by ladders on the opposite side. Much grain was found here, and this gallant exploit revived the fame of the English. The army marched thence to the relief of Wandewash, twenty-three miles distant. When Hyder entered the Carnatic, he had easily induced the Nabob's officers to surrender their trusts. To prevent this, English officers were sent to these places with small detachments. Lieut. Flint was the person sent to Wandewash with 100 men. The Killidâr, who had already made his bargain with Hyder, threatened to fire on him if he approached; but he still advanced, and when a native officer came to stop him, he persuaded him he had mistaken his orders, and sent him back for explanations. He did the same with others; and when within musket-shot of the ramparts, he halted and demanded admission for himself and a few attendants, to deliver a letter from the Nabob. The Killidâr, after some hesitation, agreed to receive it between the gate and the barrier, where he seated himself on a carpet, surrounded by thirty swordsmen and one hundred Sepoys. Flint advanced with only four Sepoys. He told the Killidâr he had no letter from the Nabob; but, what was the same, he had one from his own government. Of this, however, he made light, and was preparing to retire, when Flint sprang on and seized him, and the four Sepoys pointed their bayonets at his breast. His India to pay to the representatives of one of them, Mr. Hodges, who had died in 1794. |