Page:A history of the military transactions of the British nation in Indostan.djvu/334

328 After midnight 4000 cavalry, led by Monacjee himself, the two detachments from Tritchinopoly, consisting of 1000 Sepoys and 50 Europeans, with 5000 of the king's Sepoys, and all the Colleries, marched out of the city, and keeping at a sufficient distance, arrived at the different posts from which they were to make their attacks and remained in them, undiscovered. At the first dawn of day, 50 horsemen appeared advancing, as from the city, at a leisurely pace, towards the camp they were challenged by the advanced guard, and said they were come to offer their service to the French general, to whom they requested to be conducted; and no danger being apprehended from their number, a party from the guard accompanied them towards Mr. Lally's quarters who slept in a choultry about half a mile in the rear, but to the left of the camp. When within 100 yards, the troop halted and their leader went forward, and Mr. Lally having perceived their arrival, arose and came out of the choultry to speak to him; but before they met, one of the horsemen, who it is supposed was intoxicated with opium, left his rank, and galloped up to a tumbril at some distance, into which he fired his pistol, and a spark of the wad blew it up and the man; the explosion gave the alarm through the camp; and the guard at the choultry, which consisted of 50 men, immediately advanced to protect Mr. Lally. In the same instant the captain of the troop, who had not dismounted, pushed forward towards him, and made a cut at his head with his seymetar, which Mr. Lally parried with his stick, and a Coffree servant who attended him shot the Tanjorine dead with a pistol; the whole troop had now set off at full-gallop to charge the guard, who received them in regular order, and with a fire of such execution as stopt all except two or three from breaking through them; those, however, who remained, on horseback, joined again and endeavoured to make a second charge, but in so much confusion, that the second fire of the guard put them to flight with the utmost precipitation; and most of them galloped into a tank, which they did not perceive time enough to avoid; but twenty-eight were left dead in the space of thirty yards; Mr. Lally himself was trampled down and stunned in the scuffle, but only two of his guard were killed. Whilst the troops in the camp were getting