Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 11.djvu/118

 bourhood of Arcot, the whole numbering ten thousand men, under the command of Chanda Sahib's son, Raja Sahib, occupied the city of Arcot preparatory to laying siege to the fort. On the following day Clive made another sally in the hope of driving the enemy out of the city, or at all events of inflicting such loss upon him as would diminish his boldness in the prosecution of the siege. The first of these objects was not accomplished, and the sally was attended by the loss of fifteen of the English force ; Clive himself having one of those narrow escapes which were so numerous at this period of his career. The fort was then completely invested and underwent a siege, which, last ing for fifty days, is justly regarded as one of the most memorable events in military history. 'The fort was more than a mile in circumference ; the walls in many places ruinous, the towers inconvenient and decayed, and everything unfavourable to defence. Yet Clive found the means of making an effectual resistance. When the enemy attempted to storm at two breaches, one of fifty and one of ninety feet, he repulsed them with but eighty Europeans and a hundred and fifty sepoys fit for duty ; so effectually did he avail himself of his resources, and to such a pitch of fortitude had he exalted the spirit of those under his command' (, History of British India, iii. 84). The final assault was delivered on 14 Nov. and failed, and on the following morning it was found that the whole of the besieging army had disappeared from Arcot. Before the siege commenced Clive had lost four out of the eight officers who had accompanied him from Madras. One had been killed, two wounded, and one had returned to Madras. The stock of provisions had fallen very low some time before the siege was raised. When it became apparent that famine might compel the garrison to surrender, the sepoys offered to give up the grain to the Europeans, contenting themselves with the water in which the rice was boiled. 'It is,' they said, 'sufficient for our support. The Europeans require the grain.' The defence of Arcot produced an immense effect upon the minds of the natives of Southern India. They had hitherto entertained but little respect for the English, ranking the French as greatly their superiors in military capacity ; but from this time native opinion entirely changed, and the defence of Arcot may justly be regarded as 'the turning-point in the 'eastern career of the English' (, French in India, p. 290).

The long-expected reinforcement from Madras reached Arcot the day after the siege was raised. At the same time Clive was joined by a contingent of Mahratta troops, who had been hovering about the neighbourhood, uncertain which side to take. Clive at once followed the enemy, who, although considerably reduced in the number of native troops, had been joined by three hundred French soldiers sent by Dupleix. A battle was fought at Ami, in which Clive was victorious, driving the enemy from the field with a loss of two hundred and fifty killed and wounded and all their guns. Recapturing Conjeveram, which had been taken by the French, Clive returned to Fort St. David, with the intention of arranging for the immediate relief of Trichinopoly. From this duty, however, he was speedily called away by the intelligence that Raja Sahib, profiting by his absence, had recovered Conjeveram and had ravaged the country in the immediate neighbourhood of Madras. Clive again took the field and, recapturing Conjeveram for the second time, followed up Raja Sahib, who was marching to recover Arcot, and overtaking him at Caveripak, again beat him in a severely contested battle, fought by moonlight, killing fifty French and three hundred sepoys, and capturing nine guns, three colours, and many prisoners. Advancing again to Arcot, Clive proceeded to Vellore, and was planning the reduction of that place, when he was recalled to Fort St. David to command an expedition against Trichinopoly. On his march back he razed to the ground a town called Dupleix Fatihabad and a monument which Dupleix had built in commemoration of French victories. When Clive was on the point of starting for Trichinopoly, Major Lawrence, who had been absent in England, landed at Fort St. David, and as senior officer of the company's forces claimed the command of the expedition. To this Clive, who throughout his life entertained a grateful regard for his old commander, readily assented, and accompanied the expedition in a subordinate capacity. Notwithstanding his recent services, Clive was not placed in the position of second in command until the force reached Trichinopoly, when Lawrence, acting on a suggestion made by Clive to detach a portion of the troops to a position some miles to the north of the town for the purpose of isolating the enemy's force and operating against any reinforcements that might be sent from Pondicherry, placed the detachment under the command of Clive ; the remonstrances of the other captains, who were all senior to Clive, being silenced by the refusal of Mahomed Ali's troops to serve under any other commander. Olive's strategy again proved thoroughly successful, and resulted in the capitulation of the French