Page:A history of the military transactions of the British nation in Indostan.djvu/407

Book X. This city, the capital of the province, is situated on the eastern bank of the Godaveri, 40 miles from the sea. In the middle of the town, and near the river, stands a large fort, with mud walls of little defence. The French troops, having lost all their best cannon, would not trust to those in the fort, and report had represented the English Sepoys as the whole army, the Rajah's and all, in full pursuit; and in this persuasion they had begun to cross the river at midnight. Fifteen Europeans, with all the stores, baggage, and bullocks, which had escaped from the battle, had not yet embarked, and were immediately seized; a boat loaded with many more Europeans was in the stream; and four small field-pieces, with a thirteen-inch mortar of brass taken out of the fort, had just reached the other shore when the English Sepoys arrived, who fired for half an hour, as well with their muskets as from the cannon of the fort, upon the boat and the opposite shore, which deterred the enemy from carrying off the fieldpieces and mortar, or from remaining near them; and a party of Sepoys crossing the river in boats, brought them back the same day without molestation: a large quantity of ammunition and military stores, laid up for the French army, was taken in the fort.

Colonel Forde, with the rest of the English forces, arrived at Rajahmundrum the next day; but the Rajah, with his, remained at Peddipoor, performing the ceremony of burying the few of his people which had chanced to be killed by the straggling shot of the fight. The Hardwicke, and the two sloops, were at anchor on the coast some leagues above the field of battle, which is about 10 miles from the sea; and the day after the victory they sailed to cruize on the enemy's vessels between Masulipatam and their factories on the Godaveri: and a few days after the ship Thames was dispatched from Vizagapatam, fully laden with provisions, to Madrass. The delay of every day which had retarded Mr. Lally from advancing against Madrass was an advantage gained; Captain Joseph Smith commanding in Tritchinopoly, as soon as he received the orders of the Presidency, equipped 2000 Sepoys from his garrison, and delivered them, with two small field-pieces, to the command of Mahomed Issoef, who crossed the Coleroon with this force on the