Page:A history of the military transactions of the British nation in Indostan, Volume 1.djvu/328

320 likewise Succo-gee undertook to effect, and the king it is said was on the point of signing the treaty, when a sudden and unexpected event stopped his hand.

In the beginning of November the French at Seringham received a reinforcement of 300 Europeans, 200 Topasses, and 1000 Sepoys, with some cannon; but instead of giving any signs that they had recovered their spirits by this increase of their strength, they determined to remain quiet until major Lawrence should be ready to quit Coiladdy, in hopes that the garrison of Tritchinopoly would be lulled into security by seeing them remain inactive so long after the arrival of their reinforcement, and entertain no suspicion of the design they were meditating, when the time should come for carrying it into execution.

This design was nothing less than to storm the city of Tritchinopoly in the night by surprize. The part which the French chose to make the assault upon was Dalton's battery, on the west side, near the north-west angle of the town, the same indicated by the letter which captain Dalton had prevailed on the spy De Cattans to write to the French commander Mr. Brenier; it had formerly been a part of one of the four gateways to this city. The entrance into an Indian fortification is through a large and complicated pile of building, projecting in the form of a paralelogram from the main rampart; and if the city has two walls, it projects beyond them both: this building consists of several continued ten-asses which are of the same height as the main rampart and communicate with it: the inward walls of these terrasses form the sides of an intricate passage, about twenty feet broad, which leads by various short turnings at right angles through the whole pile, to the principal gate that stands in the main rampart: for some space on each hand of Dalton's battery, the interval between the outward and inward wall of the city was much broader than any where else. Captain Dalton, when intrusted with the command of the garrison, had converted that part of the gateway which projected beyond the outward wall into a solid battery, with embrasures: leaving the part between the two walls as it stood with its windings and terrasses: an interval was likewise left, between the backside of the battery, and the terrass nearest to it, which lay parallel to each other; so that an enemy who had gained the battery could not get to the terrass