Page:Final French Struggles in India and on the Indian Seas.djvu/47

Rh not then arrived. De Souillac therefore conferred the command of this force upon M. Duchemin.

It was an unfortunate choice. Duchemin was a sailor rather than a soldier. But he was strong neither on the sea nor on the land. He was as weak mentally as physically. A terrible fear of responsibility acted upon a constitution unable to bear the smallest fatigue. A man of moderate abilities would have sufficed for the occasion. The abilities of Duchemin were not even moderate.

These 2868 men, well commanded, and escorted to a given point by Suffren, would have sufficed to give the preponderance to Haidar Ali in his struggle with the English. But moments were precious. The war with the American colonists still indeed continued, but many things presaged that its duration would not be long. It was necessary, then, that the French should strike at once, and should strike with vigour and precision.

Of this necessity no one was more convinced than the Governor of the islands, de Souillac. He hastened his preparations, so that on the 7th December, 1781, the French fleet, consisting of eleven men of war, three frigates, three corvettes, one fireship, and nine transports containing troops, was able to set out for its destination.

What was its destination? Suffren, with a precision natural to him, had advised that it should sail direct for Madras, and attempt to take that town by a coup de main. But the cautious and feeble d'Orves had overruled him. He would only proceed by degrees. He