Page:History of the French in India.djvu/488

 4,62 GODEHEU AND DE LEYKIT. chap. Machhlipatan, de Leyrit was not neglectful of the south. _ L_ He had hoped to avenge the fall of Chandranagar by the 1757. capture of Trichinapalli ; and though disappointed of that by d'Auteuil's unaccountable strategy, he still en- deavoured to use the troops he commanded to some satisfactory purpose. On the return of d'Auteuil to Pondichery, therefore, he removed him from the com- mand, and replaced him by M. Saubinet, reputed to be a man of capacity. To him he gave instruc- tions at once to concentrate his army, which lay scat- tered at Jinji, at Tiruvadi, and at Pondichery, and to march to the relief of Wandiwash, then threatened by Adlercron. When Saabinet, at the head of 600 Europeans and about 200 sipahis, arrived before this place on June 1, he found Adlercron in possession of the town, and pre- paring to batter the fort. The approach of the French, however, combined with orders he received from his own Presidency to return, induced Adlercron at once to quit this enterprise and to retreat towards Madras. Before doing this he very barbarously and very unnecessarily set fire to the town, thereby injuring only the unoffend- ing inhabitants. Saubinet instantly followed him upon the Chengalpat road, whilst he despatched 200 Europeans and 500 sipahis to attack Kanchipuram, a most impor- tant town with a strongly fortified pagoda, only forty-six miles from Madras. This detachment was, however, repulsed from Kanchipuram, and retired, after following the example of the English, by burning the town. The main body, after recapturing Uttamatur, retired to Wandiwash, and intrenched themselves about a mile in front of that town. Here they were followed to within four miles by Adlercron, under whom Lawrence, now a lieutenant-colonel, had consented to serve as a volunteer. For six weeks the two armies, nearly equal in numbers, remained facing one another, the English anxious for a decisive action before the expected reinforcements of the