Page:History of the French in India.djvu/597

 LALLY DIES TTATID. 571 50 hussars, and nearly 3,000 native troops, inflicting c ^ p - upon them a severe defeat, and forcing the survivors to. take refuge in Trivadi.* But it was not alone by such 1760. attempts at native alliances that Lally endeavoured to turn the tide of misfortune setting in so strongly against him. Weak as he was in European infantry, he de- termined to make one bold stroke to rid himself of the besieging enemy. To understand the plan he adopted it will be necessary to state that, after the retirement of the French within the bound-hedge which forms the limits of Pondichery, the English had taken up a posi- tion, their right resting on the fort of Villanur, and their left at the base of the hill of Perimbe, the space between covering an extent of about a mile and a half. In front of Perimbe they had, moreover, thrown up a redoubt, armed with three pieces of cannon, whilst the centre was covered by a house in a garden surrounded by a hedge, connected by a tree-avenue with the town. The plan which Lally arranged, and which was so skil- fully devised as to deserve success, provided that, whilst his right column should surprise the redoubt in front of Perimbe, and the centre the hedge-bound house, the left, which was stationed on the other side of the river Ariakupum, should cross that river, and fall upon the rear of the enemy, who. it was calculated, would be thrown into utter confusion by the diversity of the attacks. To guard against mistakes, Lally the day previous accompanied the commander of the left column, M. d'Arambure, over the ground he was to take, indi- cating the point at which he was to cross the river, and the exact direction he was then to pursue. But a fatality seemed to attend all the operations of Se P- 4 - Lally. The surprise indeed was complete — for having given no intimation of the intended movement to his councillors they were unable to betray him : the right assault completely succeeded, the redoubt being quickly
 * Wilks ; Orme.