Page:Dupleix and the Struggle for India by the European Nations.djvu/63

56 approaching, he fearlessly led a force of 10,000 men to dispute with them the passage of the river Adyár. The relieving force was commanded by an Engineer officer of great ability, named Paradis. He reached the northern bank of the Adyár on the 4th of November, only to see on the opposite bank the serried ranks of the enemy. There was no turning the position. He must dare to trust the interests of his countrymen in a very unequal contest, or to retreat. Not for a second did he hesitate. Fording the river, he directed one volley at the masses in front of him, and charged. The effect was electric. The native troops, unaccustomed to such prompt audacity, fled, panic-stricken. An opportune sally from Fort St. George completed their discomfiture. Never was a victory more complete or more decisive.

It was, indeed, a battle to be remembered. The success of the first sortie from Madras had been attributed by the natives to the novel method of the artillery fire. But, on the Adyár, the French had not a single gun: Máphúz Khán had many. The battle was won by boldness, by élan, by dash, by daring to affront danger. It was this battle, called after the place near which it was fought, the battle of St. Thomé, which inverted the position of the European settler and the native overlord. Up to that time the superiority of the latter had never been disputed by either French or English. The representatives of both nations had been content to be the vassals of the Nuwáb of the Karnátik. The battle of