With Clive in India; Or, The Beginnings of an Empire, G. A. Henty [the two towers ebook txt] 📗

Major Smith advised that at least a thousand men should be left, near at hand, to succour the garrisons of the redoubts; which, being open at the rear, were liable to an attack. Major Gordon foolishly refused to follow his advice, and the same night the French attacked the redoubts. The Bombay troops, however, defended themselves with extreme bravery until assistance arrived.

Three days later the French evacuated and blew up the fort of Ariangopang, which the English were preparing to attack, and the India regiment retired into the town, leaving, however, the usual guard in the Ariangopang redoubt.

Colonel Coote had scarcely arrived at Madras when he received a letter from Colonel Monson, saying that he was likely to be incapacitated by his wound for some months, and requesting that he would resume the command of the army. The authorities of Madras strongly urged Coote to return, representing the extreme importance of the struggle in which they were engaged. He consented, and reached camp on the night of the 20th. He at once ordered the captured redoubts to be fortified, to prevent the enemy again taking the offensive; and erected a strong work, called the North Redoubt, near the seashore and facing the Madras redoubt.

A few days later, on a party of Sepoys approaching the Ariangopang redoubt, the occupants of that place were seized with a panic, abandoned the place, and went into the town. The English had now possession of the whole of the outward defences of Pondicherry, with the exception of the two redoubts by the seashore.

A day or two later Colonel Coote, advancing along the sea beach as if with a view of merely making a reconnaissance, pushed on suddenly, entered the village called the Blancherie, as it was principally inhabited by washerwomen, and attacked the Madras redoubt. This was carried, but the same night the garrison sallied out again, and fell upon the party of Sepoys posted there. Ensign MacMahon was killed, but the Sepoys, although driven out from the redoubt, bravely returned and again attacked the French; who, thinking that the Sepoys must have received large reinforcements, fell back into the village; from which, a day or two later, they retired into the town.

The whole of the ground outside the fort, between the river Ariangopang and the sea, was now in the hands of the English. The French still maintained their communications with the south by the sandy line of coast. By this time the attacks, which the English from Trichinopoli and Madura had made upon the Mysoreans, had compelled the latter to make peace, and recall their army, which was still hovering in the neighbourhood of Pondicherry.

Charlie, who had been suffering from a slight attack of fever, had for some time been staying on board ship, for change. In the road of Pondicherry three of the French Indiamen, the Hermione, Baleine, and the Compagnie des Indes, were at anchor, near the edge of the surf, under the cover of a hundred guns mounted on the sea face of the fort. These ships were awaiting the stormy weather, at the breaking of the monsoon, when it would be difficult for the English fleet to maintain their position off the town. They then intended to sail away to the south, fill up with provisions, and return to Pondicherry.

Admiral Stevens, in order to prevent this contingency, which would have greatly delayed the reduction of the place, determined to cut them out. Charlie's health being much restored by the sea breezes, he asked leave of the admiral to accompany the expedition, as a volunteer. On the evening of the 6th, six-and-twenty of the boats of the fleet, manned by four hundred sailors, were lowered and rowed to the Tiger, which was at anchor within two miles of Pondicherry, the rest of the fleet lying some distance farther away.

When, at midnight, the cabin lights of the Hermione were extinguished, the expedition started. The boats moved in two divisions, one of which was to attack the Hermione, the other the Baleine. The third vessel lay nearer in shore, and was to be attacked if the others were captured.

The night was a very dark one, and the boats of each division moved in line, with ropes stretched from boat to boat, to ensure their keeping together in the right direction. Charlie was in one of the boats intended to attack the Hermione. Tim accompanied him, but the admiral had refused permission for Hossein to do so, as there were many more white volunteers for the service than the boats would accommodate. They were within fifty yards of the Hermione before they were discovered, and a scattering musket fire was at once opened upon them.

The crews gave a mighty cheer and, casting off the ropes, separated; five making for each side of the ship, while two rowed forward to cut the cables at her bows. The Compagnie des Indes opened fire upon the boats, but these were already alongside the ship, and the sailors swarmed over the side at ten points.

The combat was a short one. The seventy men on board fought bravely, for a minute or two, but they were speedily driven below. The hatches were closed over them, and the cables being already cut, the mizzen topsail, the only sail bent, was hoisted; and the boats, taking towropes, began to row her away from shore.

The instant, however, that the cessation of fire informed the garrison the ship was captured, a tremendous cannonade was opened by the guns of the fortress. The lightning was flashing vividly, and this enabled the gunners to direct their aim upon the ship. Over and over again she was struck, and one shot destroyed the steering wheel, cut the tiller rope, and killed two men who were steering. The single sail was not sufficient to assist in steering her, and the men in the boats rowed with such energy that the ropes continually snapped.

The fire continued from the shore, doing considerable damage; and the men in the boats, who could not see that the ship was moving through the water, concluded that she was anchored by a concealed cable and anchor. The officer in command, therefore, called up the Frenchmen from below, telling them he was about to fire the ship. They came on deck and took their places in the boats, which rowed back to the Tiger.

Upon arriving there Captain Dent, who commanded her, sternly rebuked the officer; and said that, unless the boats returned instantly and brought the Hermione out, he should send his own crew in their boats to fetch her. The division thereupon returned, and met the ship half a mile off shore, the land wind having now sprung up.

The Baleine had been easily captured and, having several sails bent, she was brought out without difficulty. No attempt was made to capture the third vessel.

The rains had now set in, but the English laboured steadily at their batteries. The French were becoming pressed for provisions, and Lally turned the whole of the natives remaining in the town, to the number of fourteen hundred men and women, outside the fortifications. On their arrival at the English lines they were refused permission to pass, as Colonel Coote did not wish to relieve the garrison of the consumption of food caused by them. They returned to the French lines, and begged to be again received; but they were, by Lally's orders, fired upon, and several killed.

For seven days the unhappy wretches remained without food, save the roots they could gather in the fields. Then Colonel Coote, seeing that Lally was inflexible, allowed them to pass.

On the 10th of November the batteries opened, and every day added to the strength of the fire upon the town. The fortifications, however, were strong, and the siege progressed but slowly. On the 30th of December a tremendous storm burst, and committed the greatest havoc, both at land and sea. The Newcastle, man-of-war; the Queenborough, frigate; and the Protector, fire ship were driven ashore and dashed to pieces; but the crews, with the exception of seven, were saved. The Duke of Aquitaine, the Sunderland, and the Duke, store ship, were sunk, and eleven hundred sailors drowned. Most of the other ships were dismasted.

The fire of the batteries increased, and by the 13th of January the enemy's fire was completely silenced. The provisions in the town were wholly exhausted, and on the 16th the town surrendered, and the next morning the English took possession. Three days afterwards Lally was embarked on board ship, to be taken a prisoner to Madras; and so much was he hated that the French officers and civilians assembled, and hissed and hooted him; and, had he not been protected by his guard, would have torn him to pieces. After his return to France he was tried for having, by his conduct, caused the loss of the French possessions in India, and being found guilty of the offence, was beheaded.

At Pondicherry two thousand and seventy-two military prisoners were taken, and three hundred and eighty-one civilians. Five hundred cannon and a hundred mortars, fit for service; and immense quantities of ammunition, arms, and military stores fell into the hands of the captors.

Pondicherry was handed over to the Company; who, a short time afterwards, entirely demolished both the fortress and town. This hard measure was the consequence of a letter which had been intercepted, from the French government to Lally, ordering him to raze Madras to the ground, when it fell into his hands.

Charlie, after the siege, in which he had rendered great services, received from the Company, at Colonel Coote's earnest recommendation, his promotion to the step of lieutenant colonel; while Peters was raised to that of major. A fortnight after the fall of Pondicherry, they returned to Madras, and thence took the first ship for England. It was now just ten years since they had sailed, and in that time they had seen Madras and Calcutta rise, from the rank of two trading stations, in constant danger of destruction by their powerful neighbours, to that of virtual capitals of great provinces. Not as yet, indeed, had they openly assumed the sovereignty of these territories; but Madras was, in fact, the absolute master of the broad tract of land extending from the foot of the mountains to the sea, from Cape Comorin to Bengal; while Calcutta was master of Bengal and Oressa, and her power already threatened to extend itself as far as Delhi. The conquest of these vast tracts of country had been achieved by mere handfuls of men, and by a display of heroic valour and constancy scarce to be rivalled in the history of the world.

The voyage was a pleasant one, and was, for the times, quick, occupying only five months. But to the young men, longing for home after so long an absence, it seemed tedious in the extreme.

Tim and Hossein were well content with their quiet, easy life, after their long toils. They had nothing whatever to do, except that they insisted upon waiting upon Charlie and Peters, at meals. The ship carried a large number of sick and wounded officers and men, and as these gained health and strength, the life on board ship became livelier, and more jovial. Singing and cards occupied the evenings, while in the daytime they played quoits, rings of rope being used for that purpose, and other games with which passengers usually wile away the monotony of long voyages.

It was late in June when the Madras sailed up the Thames; and, as soon as she came to anchor, the two officers and their followers landed. The din and bustle of the streets seemed almost as strange, to Charlie, as they had done when he came up a boy, from Yarmouth. Hossein was astonished at the multitude of white people, and inquired of Charlie why, when there were so many men, England had sent so few soldiers to fight for her in India; and for once, Charlie was unable to give a satisfactory reply.

"It does seem strange," he said to Peters, "that when such mighty interests were at stake, a body of even ten thousand troops could not have been raised, and sent out. Such a force would have decided the struggle at once; and in three months the great possessions, which have cost the Company twelve years' war, would have been at their feet. It would not have cost them more; indeed, nothing like as much as it now has done, nor one tithe of the loss in life. Somehow, England always seems to make war in driblets."

Charlie knew that his mother and Kate had, for some years, been residing at a house which their uncle had taken, in the fashionable quarter of Chelsea. They looked in at the office, however, to see if Charlie's uncle was there; but found that he was not in the city, and, indeed, had now almost retired from the business. They therefore took a coach, placed the small articles