Page:Calcutta, Past and Present.djvu/94

 Governor's house, Council House, officers' quarters, church, hospital, and warehouses, but, owing to difficulties in the way of labour, want of funds, and divided councils, the work proceeded but slowly, so that it was some ten years before the new Fort was completed. Long ere that period had elapsed, the position of the East India Company had entirely changed; they were no longer foreign traders, but had become the paramount power in Bengal, and a fortified factory was a thing of the past.

These changes, however, belong to later years, and Clive and Admiral Watson, when they had recaptured Calcutta, found themselves, in the opening days of 1757, confronted with many serious dangers. The nawab was marching from Murshedabad with a powerful army, Calcutta was in no condition to resist the attack, and, to add to the difficulties of the situation, France and England were on the eve of war, and the French at Chandernagore might at any moment move against the English settlement.

The English forces comprised some seven hundred European infantry; fifteen hundred sepoys, lately raised for the first time; eight hundred artillery with fourteen guns, nearly all 6-pounders; and the sailors from the fleet.