by G. A. Henty
Upon their return to the British camp, Charlie explained to Colonel Forde the measures which he was obliged to take, to convince the rajah of the soundness of his arguments; and of these Colonel Forde entirely approved. He told Charlie that he had sent off, to open negotiations with Salabut Jung, so as to detain him as long as possible at Baizwara.
Without any intermission, the batteries continued to play on the fort from the 25th of March to the 6th of April. Several houses had been destroyed, and some breaches effected; but these the French repaired in the night, as fast as they were made. They were aware of the position of the English, and regarded the siege with contempt.
On the morning of the 7th, news came that the nizam was advancing from Baizwara to attack the English; and that Du Rocher was hurrying from Rajahmahendri, to effect a junction with him. The same morning, the senior artillery officer reported to Colonel Forde that only two days' ammunition for the batteries remained in store. He learned, too, that a ship with three hundred French soldiers would arrive, in the course of a day or two.
The position was, indeed, a desperate one, and there remained only the alternatives of success against the fort, or total destruction. He determined to attack. All day, his batteries kept up a heavier fire than ever, maintaining an equal fire against all the bastions in order that, if the enemy should obtain any information of the projected attack, they would not know against which point it was directed. Colonel Forde had ascertained that fishermen were in the habit of making their way, across the swamp, to the southwest angle of the fort, that on the sea face opposite to the British frontiers. He determined to effect a diversion, by an attack upon that side; and therefore ordered Captain Knox, with seven hundred Sepoys, to make a detour to cross the swamp, and to attack upon that side. Still further to distract the attention of the garrison, he instructed Anandraz to advance with his men along the causeway, and to open fire against the ravelin. The main attack, which consisted of the rest of the force, composed of three hundred and twenty European infantry, thirty gunners, thirty sailors, and seven hundred Sepoys, was to be delivered against the breach in the bastion, mounting ten guns, in the northeast angle of the fort.
At ten o'clock, the force drew up under arms. The fire of the batteries was kept up, much later than usual, in order that the enemy should have no time to repair the breaches. The hour of midnight was fixed for the attack, as at that time the tide was at its lowest, and the water in the ditches round the ramparts not more than three feet deep.
Captain Knox and his party started first. The main body should have set out half an hour later, but were detained, owing to the unaccountable absence of Captain Callender, the officer who was to command it. As this officer was afterwards killed, the cause of his absence was never explained. The party started without him, and before they could reach the ditch, they heard the sound of firing from the farther corner of the fort, telling that Knox was already at work.
"Shure, yer honor," muttered Tim, as he made his way through the swamp, knee deep, beside his master, "this is worse than the day before Plassey. It was water then, but this thick mud houlds one's legs fast at every step. I've lost one of my boots, already."
It was indeed hard work; but at last, the head of the column reached the ditch, just as a fresh burst of firing told that the Rajah Anandraz was attacking the ravelin. The French, in their belief in the absolute security of the place, had taken but few precautions against an attack; and it was not until the leading party had waded, nearly breast high, through the ditch; and began to break down the palisade beyond it, that they were discovered. Then a heavy artillery and musketry fire from the bastions on the right and left was opened upon the assailants.
Captain Fisher with the first division attacked the breach; Captain Maclean with the second covered them, by opening fire upon the bastion on their right; while the third, led by Captain Yorke, replied to that on their left. Charlie, although superior in rank to any of these officers, had no specific command, but accompanied the party as a simple volunteer.
The storming party soon mounted the breach, and Yorke's division joined it on the top. Yorke, turning to the left, seized the bastion which was firing on Maclean; while Fisher turned along the ramparts to the right, to secure the bastions in that direction.
Just as Yorke was setting out he saw a strong body of French Sepoys, advancing between the foot of the ramparts and the buildings of the town. These had been sent, directly the firing was heard, to reinforce the bastion just carried. Without a moment's hesitation, Yorke ran down the rampart, seized the French officer who commanded, and ordered him to surrender at once, as the place was already taken. Confused and bewildered, the officer gave up his sword, and ordered the Sepoys to lay down their arms. They were then sent, as prisoners, into the bastion.
Yorke now pushed forward, with his men, at the foot of the rampart; and carried two out of three of the bastions on that side. The men, however, separated from the rest, and alone in the unknown town, were beginning to lose heart. Suddenly they came upon a small magazine, and some of the men called out, "A mine!" Seized with a sudden panic, the whole division ran back, leaving Yorke alone with two native drummer boys, who continued to beat the advance. The soldiers, however, did not stop running until they reached the bastion.
Captain Yorke went back, and found that many of the soldiers were proposing to leave the fort, altogether. He swore that he would cut down the first man who moved, and some of the men who had served with him in the 39th, ashamed of their conduct, said that they would follow him. Heading the thirty-six men who had now come to their senses, Captain Yorke again advanced, with the drummer boys.
Just as he was setting out, Charlie, who had at first gone with Fisher's division, hearing an entire cessation of fire on the other side, ran up to see what was going on.
"Major Marryat," Captain Yorke said, "will you rally these fellows, and bring them after me. They've been frightened with a false alarm of a mine, and have lost their heads altogether."
Charlie, aided by Tim, exerted himself to the utmost to encourage and command the soldiers, shaming them by telling them that while they, European soldiers, were cowering in the bastion, their Sepoy comrades were winning the town.
"Unless," he said, "in one minute the whole of you are formed up ready to advance, I will take care that not one shall have a share in the prize money that will be won tonight."
The men now fell in, and Charlie led them after Captain Yorke. The first retreat of the latter's division had given the French time to rally a little, and as he now made along the rampart towards the bastion on the river, the French officer in command there, having turned a gun and loaded it with grape, discharged it when the English were within a few yards. Captain Yorke fell, badly wounded. The two black drummer boys were killed, as were several of the men, and sixteen others were wounded.
Charlie, hurrying along with the rest of the party, met the survivors of Captain Yorke's little band coming back, carrying their wounded officer.
"There," Charlie shouted to his men, "that is your doing. Now retrieve yourselves. Show you are worthy of the name of British soldiers."
With a shout, the men rushed forward and carried the bastion, and this completed the capture of the whole of the wall, from the northeast angle to the river.
In the meantime Captain Fisher, with his division, was advancing to the right along the rampart. Maclean's men had joined him, and they were pushing steadily forward. Colonel Forde continued with the reserve at the bastion first taken, receiving reports from both divisions as they advanced, and sending the necessary orders. As fast as the prisoners were brought in, they were sent down the breach into the ditch, where they were guarded by Sepoys, who threatened to shoot any that tried to climb up.
Meanwhile, all was disorder in the town. Greatly superior as were the besieged to their assailants in number, they could, if properly handled, have easily driven them back. Instead, however, of disregarding the attack by Knox at the southwest angle, wh
ich was clearly only a feint; and that of Anandraz on the ravelin, which might have been disregarded with equal safety; and concentrating all their forces against the main attack, they made no sustained effort against either of the columns, which were rapidly carrying bastion after bastion. Conflans appeared to have completely lost his head, as messenger after messenger arrived at his house, by the river, with news of the progress of the English columns.
As Fisher's division advanced towards the bastion in which was the great gate, the French who had gathered there again attempted to check his progress. But his men reserved their fire, until close to the enemy; and then, discharging a volley at a few yards' distance, they rapidly cleared the bastion. Fisher at once closed the great gates, and thus cut off all the defenders of the ravelin, and prevented any of the troops within from joining these, and cutting their way through the rajah's troops, which would have been no difficult matter.
Just as the division were again advancing, Captain Callender, to the astonishment of everyone, appeared and took his place at its head. A few shots only were fired after this, and the last discharge killed Captain Callender.
By this time Conflans, bewildered and terrified, had sent a message to Colonel Forde, offering to surrender on honorable terms. Colonel Forde sent back to say that he would give no terms whatever; that the town was in his power and further resistance hopeless; and that, if it continued longer, he would put all who did not surrender to the sword. On the receipt of this message, Conflans immediately sent round orders that all his men were to lay down their arms, and to fall in, in the open space by the water.
The English assembled, on the parade, by the bastion of the gateway. Captain Knox's column was marched round, from the southwest, into the town. A strong body of artillery kept guard over the prisoners till morning. Then the gate was opened, and the French in the ravelin entered the fort, and became prisoners with the rest of the garrison. The whole number of prisoners exceeded three thousand, of whom five hundred were Europeans and the rest Sepoys. The loss of the English was twenty-two Europeans killed, and sixty-two wounded. The Sepoys had fifty killed and a hundred and fifty wounded. The rajah's people, who had kept up their false attack upon the ravelin with much more bravery and resolution than had been expected, also lost a good many men.
Considering the natural strength of the position, that the garrison was, both in European troops and Sepoys, considerably stronger than the besiegers, that the fort mounted a hundred and twenty guns, and that a relieving army, enormously superior to that of the besiegers, was within fifteen miles at the time the assault was made, the capture of Masulipatam may claim to rank among the very highest deeds ever performed by British arms.
Chapter 28
: The Defeat Of Lally.
A large quantity of plunder was obtained at Masulipatam. Half was at once divided among the troops, according to promise, and the other half retained until the permission, applied for by Colonel Forde, was received from Madras for its division among them.
The morning after the capture of the town, the Mahratta horse of Salabut Jung appeared. The nizam was furious when he found that he had arrived too late; but he resolved that when the three hundred French troops, daily expected by sea, arrived, he would besiege Forde in his turn; as, with the new arrivals, Du Rocher's force would alone be superior to that of Forde, and there would be, in addition, his own army of forty thousand men.
The ships arrived off the port three days later, and sent a messenger on shore to Conflans. Finding that no answer was returned, and that the fire had entirely ceased, they came to the conclusion that the place was captured by the English, and sailed away to Pondicherry again. Had Du Rocher taken the precaution of having boats in readiness to communicate with them, inform them of the real state of affairs, and order them to land farther along the coast and join him, Forde would have been besieged in his turn, although certainly the siege would have been ineffectual.
Rajah Anandraz, greatly terrified at the approach of the nizam, had, two days after the capture of the place, received a portion of the plunder as his share, and marched away to his own country; Forde, disgusted with his conduct throughout the campaign, making no effort whatever to retain him.
When Salabut Jung heard that the French had sailed away to Pondicherry, he felt that his prospects of retaking the town were small; and, at the same time receiving news that his own dominions were threatened by an enemy, he concluded a treaty with Forde, granting Masulipatam and the Northern Sirkars to the English, and agreeing never again to allow any French troops to enter his dominions. He then marched back to his own country.
Colonel Forde sailed with a portion of the force to Calcutta, where he shortly afterwards commanded at the battle of Chinsurah, where the Dutch, who had made vast preparations to dispute the supremacy of the English, were completely defeated; and thenceforth they, as well as the French, sunk to the rank of small trading colonies under British protection, in Bengal.
Charlie returned to Madras, and journeying up the country he joined the main body of his troop, under Peters. They had been engaged in several dashing expeditions, and had rendered great service; but they had been reduced in numbers, by action and sickness; and the whole force, when reunited, only numbered eighty sabres--Lieutenant Hallowes being killed. Peters had been twice wounded. The two friends were greatly pleased to meet again, and had much to tell each other of their adventures, since they parted.
The next morning, a deputation of four of the men waited upon Charlie. They said that, from their share of the booty of the various places they had taken, all were now possessed of sums sufficient, in India, to enable them to live in comfort for the rest of their lives. They hoped, therefore, that Charlie would ask the authorities at Madras to disband the corps, and allow them to return home. Their commander, however, pointed out to them that the position was still a critical one; that the French possessed a very powerful army at Pondicherry, which would shortly take the field; and that the English would need every one of their soldiers, to meet the storm. If victorious, there could be no doubt that a final blow would be dealt to French influence, and that the Company would then be able to reduce its forces. A few months would settle the event, and it would, he knew, be useless to apply for their discharge before that time. He thought he could promise them, however, that by the end of the year, at latest, their services would be dispensed with.
The men, although rather disappointed, retired, content to make the best of the circumstances. Desertions were very frequent in the Sepoy force of the Company, as the men, returning to their native villages and resuming their former dress and occupation, were in no danger whatever of discovery. But in Charlie's force not a single desertion had taken place since it was raised; as the men knew that, by leaving the colours, they would forfeit their share of the prize money, held for them in the Madras treasury.
"Have you heard from home lately?" Peters asked.
"Yes," Charlie said. "There was a large batch of letters lying for me, at Madras. My eldest sister, who has now been married three years, has just presented me with a second nephew. Katie and my mother are well."
"Your sister is not engaged yet?" Peters asked.
"No. Katie says she's quite heart whole at present. Let me see--how old is she now? It is just eight years and a half since we left England, and she was twelve years old then. She is now past twenty.
"She would do nicely for you, Peters, when you go back. It would be awfully jolly, if you two were to fall in love with each other."
"I feel quite disposed to do so," Peters said, laughing, "from your descriptions of her. I've heard so much of her, in all the time we've been together; and she writes such bright merry letters, that I seem to know her quite well."
For Charlie, during the long evenings by the campfires, had often read to his friend the lively letters which he received from his sisters. Peters had no sisters of his own; and he had more than once sent home presents, from the many articles of jewelry which fell to h
is share of the loot of captured fortresses, to his friend's sisters, saying to Charlie that he had no one in England to send things to, and that it kept up his tie with the old country; for he had been left an orphan, as a child.
The day after the deputation from his men had spoken to Charlie, Tim said:
"I hope, yer honor, that whin the troop's disbanded, you will be going home for a bit, yourself."
"I intend to do so, Tim. I have been wanting to get away, for the last two years, but I did not like to ask for leave until everything was settled here. And what is more, when I once get back, I don't think they will ever see me in India again. I have sufficient means to live as a wealthy man in England, and I've seen enough fighting to last a lifetime."
"Hooroo!" shouted Tim. "That's the best word I've heard for a long time. And I shall settle down as yer honor's butler, and look after the grand house, and see that you're comfortable."
"You must never leave me, Tim, that's certain," Charlie said. "At least, till you marry and set up an establishment of your own."
"If I can't marry without leaving yer honor, divil a wife will Tim Kelly ever take."
"Wait till you see the right woman, Tim. There is no saying what the strongest of us will do, when he's once caught in a woman's net. However, we'll talk of that when the time comes."
"And there's Hossein, yer honor. Fire and water wouldn't keep him away from you, though what he'll do in the colds of the winter at home is more than I know. It makes me laugh to see how his teeth chatter, and how the creetur shivers of a cold morning, here. But, cold or no cold, he'd follow you to the north pole, and climb up it if yer honor told him."
