Page:Final French Struggles in India and on the Indian Seas.djvu/226

198 materials for firing which he had maintained on the ground during the general fight of the right wing. This simultaneous discharge sent the Moghol cavalry to the right-about. Raymond's infantry, however, not only stood firm, but succeeded for a time in making a successful opposition to all the efforts of Perron. It is difficult to say how the battle would have ended had Nizám Ali been endowed with the most ordinary qualities of a leader. But like most Asiatic commanders he trusted only to his horsemen. When, then, these fled, he fled with them, sending order after order to Raymond to follow him. Meanwhile the Maráthá horse, rallying, were hastening to support Perron. Raymond, then, most unwillingly was forced to follow his master. He did so, however, in the most perfect order, prepared to renew the fight the next day. An accident, however, converted the retreat during the night into a complete rout. Three days later a humiliating accommodation was forced upon the pusillanimous Nizám.

The battle of Kardlá, if it crushed the Nizám, gave by its results, fuller impetus to the intrigues going on