by G. A. Henty
Chapter 9: The Battle Of Kavaripak.
The troops from Arcot had already moved some distance on their way toMadras, and Clive, therefore, with the new levies, joined them on theday after his leaving Madras. The French and Riza Sahib let slip theopportunity of attacking these bodies, before they united. They werewell aware of their movements, and had resolved upon tactics,calculated in the first place to puzzle the English commander, to wearout his troops, and to enable them finally to surprise and take himentirely at a disadvantage.
The junction with the Arcot garrison raised the force under Clive'sorders to three hundred and eighty English, thirteen hundred Sepoys,and six field guns, while the enemy at Vendalur, a place twenty-fivemiles south of Madras, where they had a fortified camp, had fourhundred French troops, two thousand Sepoys, two thousand five hundredcavalry, and twelve guns.
Hoping to surprise them there, Clive marched all night. When the forceapproached the town they heard that the enemy had disappeared, andthat they had started, apparently, in several directions.
The force was halted for a few hours, and then the news was obtainedthat the enemy had united their forces at Conjeveram, and that theyhad marched away from that place in a westerly direction. Doubting notthat they were about to attack Arcot, which, weakened by the departureof the greater portion of its garrison, would be in no position todefend itself against a sudden coup de main by a strong force, Cliveset his troops again in motion. The French, indeed, had already bribedsome of the native soldiers within the fort; who were to reply to asignal made without, if they were in a position to open the gates.However, by good fortune their treachery had been discovered, and whenthe French arrived they received no reply to their signal; and asArcot would be sure to fall if they defeated Clive, they marched awaywithout attacking it, to take up the position which they had agreedupon beforehand.
It was at nine in the evening that Clive, at Vendalur, obtainedintelligence that the enemy had assembled at Conjeveram. The troopshad already marched twenty-five miles, but they had had a rest of fivehours, and Clive started with them at once, and reached Conjeveram,twenty miles distant, at four in the morning. Finding that the enemyhad again disappeared, he ordered the troops to halt for a few hours.They had already marched forty-five miles in twenty-four hours, agreat feat when it is remembered that only the Arcot garrison were inany way accustomed to fatigue, the others being newly raised levies.The greater portion of the Sepoys had been enlisted within thefortnight preceding.
"I don't know, Mr. Marryat, whether the French call this fighting. Icall it playing hide and seek," Tim Kelly said. "Shure we've binmarching, with only a halt of two or three hours, since yisterdaymorning; and my poor feet are that sore that I daren't take my bootsoff me, for I'm shure I'd never git 'em on agin. If the French want tofight us, why don't they do it square and honest, not be racing andchasing about like a lot of wild sheep."
"Have you seen the moonshee, Tim? He is with the baggage."
"Shure and I saw him," Tim said. "The cart come in just now, and therewas he, perched up on the top of it like a dried monkey. You don'twant him tonight, shure, yer honor."
"Oh no, I don't want him, Tim. You'd better go now, and get to sleepat once, if you can. We may be off again, at any minute."
Arcot is twenty-seven miles from Conjeveram. Clive felt certain thatthe enemy had gone on to that place; but, anxious as he was for itssafety, it was absolutely necessary that the troops should have a restbefore starting on such a march. They were, therefore, allowed to restuntil twelve o'clock; when, refreshed by their eight hours' halt andbreakfast, they started upon their long march towards Arcot, makingsure that they should not find the enemy until they reached thatplace.
Had Clive possessed a body of cavalry, however small, he would havebeen able to scour the country, and to make himself acquainted withthe real position of the French. Cavalry are to a general what eyesare to a man, and without these he is liable to tumble into a pitfall.Such was the case on the present occasion. Having no doubt that theenemy were engaged in attacking Arcot, the troops were plodding alongcarelessly and in loose order; when, to their astonishment, after asixteen-mile march, as they approached the town of Kavaripak just asthe sun was setting, a fire of artillery opened upon them from a groveupon the right of the road, but two hundred and fifty yards distant.Nothing is more confusing than a surprise of this kind, especially toyoung troops, and when no enemy is thought to be near.
The French general's plans had been well laid. He had reachedKavaripak that morning, and allowed his troops to rest all day, and heexpected to obtain an easy victory over the tired men who would,unsuspicious of danger, be pressing on to the relief of Arcot. So farhis calculations had been correct, and the English marchedunsuspiciously into the trap laid for them.
The twelve French guns were placed in a grove, round whose sides,facing the point from which Clive was approaching, ran a deep ditchwith a high bank forming a regular battery. A body of French infantrywere placed in support of the guns, with some Sepoys in reserve behindthe grove. Parallel with the road on the left ran a deep watercourse,now empty, and in this the rest of the infantry were stationed, at apoint near the town of Kavaripak, and about a quarter of a milefurther back than the grove. On either side of this watercourse theenemy had placed his powerful cavalry force.
For a moment, when the guns opened, there was confusion and panicamong the British troops. Clive, however, ever cool and confident indanger, and well seconded by his officers, rallied them at once. Theposition was one of extreme danger. It was possible, indeed, toretreat, but in the face of an enemy superior in infantry and guns,and possessing so powerful a body of cavalry, the operation would havebeen a very dangerous one. Even if accomplished, it would entail animmense loss of morale and prestige to his troops. Hitherto, under hisleading, they had been always successful; and a belief in his ownsuperiority adds immensely to the fighting power of a soldier. Evenshould the remnant of the force fight its way back to Madras, thecampaign would have been a lost one, and all hope of savingTrichinopoli would have been at an end.
"Steady, lads, steady," he shouted. "Form up quietly and steadily. Wehave beaten the enemy before, you know, and we will do so again."
While the troops, in spite of the artillery fire, fell into line,Clive rapidly surveyed the ground. He saw the enemy's infantryadvancing up the watercourse, and so sheltered by it as to be out ofthe fire of his troops. He saw their cavalry sweeping down on theother side of the watercourse, menacing his left and threatening hisbaggage. The guns were at once brought up from the rear, but beforethese arrived the men were falling fast.
Three of the guns he placed to answer the French battery, two of themhe hurried to his left, with a small body of English and two hundredSepoys, to check the advance of the enemy's cavalry. The main body ofhis infantry he ordered into the watercourse, which afforded them ashelter from the enemy's artillery. The baggage carts and baggage hesent half a mile to the rear, under the protection of forty Sepoys anda gun.
While this was being done the enemy's fire was continuing, but hisinfantry advanced but slowly, and had not reached a point abreast ofthe grove when the British force in the watercourse met them. It wouldnot seem to be a very important matter, at what point in thewatercourse the infantry of the two opposing parties came intocollision, but matters apparently trifling in themselves often decidethe fate of battles; and, in fact, had the French artillery retainedtheir fire until their infantry were abreast of the grove, the battleof Kavaripak would have been won by them, and the British power inSouthern India would have been destroyed.
Clive moved confidently and resolutely among his men, keeping up theircourage by cheerful words, and he was well seconded by his officers.
"Now, lads," Charlie Marryat cried to the company of which he was incommand, "stick to it. You ought to be very thankful to the French,for saving you the trouble of having to march another twelve milesbefore giving you an opportunity of thrashing them."
The men l
aughed, and redoubled their fire on the French infantry, whowere facing them in the watercourse at a distance of eighty yards.Neither party liked to charge. The French commander knew that he hadonly to hold his position to win the day. His guns were mowing downthe English artillerymen. The English party on the left of thewatercourse, with difficulty, held their own against the charges ofhis horsemen, and were rapidly dwindling away under the artilleryfire, while other bodies of his cavalry had surrounded the baggage,and were attacking the little force told off to guard it. He knew,too, that any attempt the English might make to attack the battery,with its strong defences, must inevitably fail.
The situation was becoming desperate. It was now ten o'clock. Thefight had gone on for four hours. No advantage had been gained, themen were losing confidence, and the position grew more and moredesperate. Clive saw that there was but one chance of victory. Thegrove could not be carried in the front, but it was just possible thatit might be open in the rear.
Choosing a sergeant who spoke the native language well, he bade himleave the party in the watercourse, and make his way round to the rearof the grove, and discover whether it was strongly guarded there ornot. In twenty minutes, the sergeant returned with the news that therewas no strong force there.
Clive at once took two hundred of his English infantry, the men whohad fought at Arcot, and quietly left the watercourse and made his wayround towards the rear of the grove. Before he had gone far the mainbody in the watercourse, surprised at the sudden withdrawal of thegreater portion of the English force, and missing the presence ofClive himself, began to lose heart. They no longer repliedenergetically to the fire of the French infantry. A movement ofretreat began, the fire ceased, and in a minute or two they would havebroken in flight.
At this moment, Clive returned. As he moved forward, he had marked thedying away of the English fire, and guessing what had happened, hadgiven over the command of the column to Lieutenant Keene, the seniorofficer, and hurried back to the watercourse. He arrived there just asthe troops had commenced to run away.
Throwing himself among them, with shouts and exhortations, hesucceeded in arresting their flight; and, by assurances that thebattle was as good as won elsewhere, and that they had only to holdtheir ground for a few minutes longer to ensure victory, he got themto advance to their former position; and to reopen fire on the French,who had, fortunately, remained inactive instead of advancing andtaking advantage of the cessation of the English fire.
In the meantime, Lieutenant Keene led his detachment, making a longcircuit, to a point three hundred yards immediately behind the grove.He then sent forward one of his officers, Ensign Symmonds, who spokeFrench perfectly, to reconnoitre the grove. Symmonds had proceeded buta little way, when he came upon a large number of French Sepoys, whowere covering the rear of the grove; but who, as their services werenot required, were sheltering themselves there from the random bulletswhich were flying about. They at once challenged; but Symmondsanswering them in French they, being unable to see his uniform in thedarkness, and supposing him to be a French officer, allowed him toadvance.
He passed boldly forward into the grove. He proceeded nearly throughit, until he came within sight of the guns, which were still keepingup their fire upon those of the English; while a hundred Frenchinfantry, who were in support, were all occupied in watching what wasgoing on in front of them. Symmonds returned to the detachment, by apath to the right of that by which he had entered, and passed outwithout seeing a soul.
Lieutenant Keene gave the word to advance and, following the guidanceof Mr. Symmonds, entered the grove. He advanced, unobserved, untilwithin thirty yards of the enemy. Here he halted, and poured a volleyinto them.
The effect was instantaneous. Many of the French fell, and the rest,astounded at this sudden and unexpected attack, left their guns andfled. Sixty of them rushed for shelter into a building at the end ofthe grove, where the English surrounded them and forced them tosurrender.
By this sudden stroke, the battle of Kavaripak was won. The sound ofthe musketry fire, and the immediate cessation of that of the enemy'sguns, told Clive that the grove was captured. A few minutes laterfugitives, arriving from the grove, informed the commander of theenemy's main body of infantry of the misfortune which had befallenthem. The French fire at once ceased, and the troops withdrew.
In the darkness, it was impossible for Clive to attempt a pursuit. Hewas in ignorance of the direction the enemy had taken; his troops hadalready marched sixty miles in two days; and he would, moreover, havebeen exposed to sudden dashes of the enemy's cavalry. Clive,therefore, united his troops, joined his baggage, which the littleguard had gallantly defended against the attacks of the enemy'scavalry, and waited for morning.
At daybreak, not an enemy was to be seen. Fifty Frenchmen lay dead onthe field, and sixty were captives. Three hundred French Sepoys hadfallen. There were, besides, many wounded. The enemy's artillery hadbeen all captured. The British loss was forty English and thirtySepoys killed, and a great number of both wounded.
The moral effect of the victory was immense. It was the first timethat French and English soldiers had fought in the field against eachother, in India. The French had proved to the natives that they wereenormously their superiors in fighting power. Hitherto the English hadnot done so. The defence of Arcot had proved that they could fightbehind walls; but the natives had, themselves, many examples ofgallant defences of this kind. The English troops, under Gingen andCope, had suffered themselves to be cooped up in Trichinopoli, and hadnot struck a blow in its defence.
At Kavaripak, the natives discovered that the English could fight aswell, or better than the French. The latter were somewhat stronger,numerically, than their rivals. They had double the force ofartillery, were half as strong again in Sepoys, and had two thousandfive hundred cavalry, while the English had not a single horseman.They had all the advantages of surprise and position; and yet, theyhad been entirely defeated.
Thenceforth the natives of India regarded the English as a people tobe feared and respected; and, for the first time, considered theirultimate triumph over the French to be a possibility. As the policy ofthe native princes had ever been to side with the strongest, theadvantage thus gained to the English cause, by the victory ofKavaripak, was enormous.
On the following day, the English took possession of the fort ofKavaripak, and marched to Arcot. Scarcely had they arrived there whenClive received a despatch from Fort Saint David; ordering him toreturn there at once, with all his troops; to march to the relief ofTrichinopoli, where the garrison was reported to be in the soreststraits, from want of provisions.
The force reached Fort Saint David on the 11th of March. Herepreparations were hurried forward for the advance to Trichinopoli;and, in three days, Clive was ready to start. Just as he was about toset out, a ship arrived from England, having on board some moretroops, together with Major Lawrence and several officers, some ofwhom were captains senior to Clive.
Major Lawrence, who had already proved his capacity and energy, ofcourse took command of the expedition; and treated Clive, who hadserved under him at the siege of Pondicherry, and whose successes inthe field had attracted his high admiration, as second in command,somewhat to the discontent of the officers senior to him in rank.
The force consisted of four hundred Europeans, eleven hundred Sepoys,and eight guns, and escorted a large train of provisions and stores.During these months which the diversion, caused by the attack of RizaSahib and the French upon Madras, had given to the besiegers ofTrichinopoli, they should have long since captured the town. In spiteof all the orders of Dupleix, Law could not bring himself to attackthe town; and the French governor of Pondicherry saw, with dismay,that the two months and a half, which his efforts and energy hadgained for the besiegers, had been entirely wasted; and that it wasprobable the whole fruits of his labours would be thrown away.
He now directed Law to leave only a small force in front ofTrichinopoli, and to march with the whole of his army, and that ofChund
a Sahib, and crush the force advancing under Lawrence to therelief of Trichinopoli. Law, however, disobeyed orders; and, indeed,acted in direct contradiction to them. He maintained six hundredFrench troops and many thousands of native before Trichinopoli, andsent but two hundred and fifty French, and about three hundred andfifty natives--a force altogether inferior in numbers to that which itwas sent to oppose--to arrest the progress of Lawrence's advancingcolumn.
The position which this French force was directed to occupy was thefort of Koiladi, an admirable position. As the two branches of theKavari were, here, but half a mile apart, had Law concentrated all hisforce here he could, no doubt, have successfully opposed the English.
Lawrence, however, when the guns of the fort opened upon him, repliedto them by the fire of his artillery; and, as the French force wasinsufficient to enable its commander to fight him in the open, he wasenabled to take his troops and convoy in safety past the fort. WhenLaw heard this, he marched out and took his position round a lofty,and almost, inaccessible rock called Elmiseram, and prepared to givebattle.
Lawrence, however, after passing Koiladi, had been joined by a hundredEnglish and fifty dragoons, from Trichinopoli. These acted as guides,and led him by a route by which he avoided the French position; andeffected a junction with two hundred Europeans, and four hundredSepoys from Trichinopoli; and with a body of Mahratta cavalry, underMurari Reo.
Law, having failed to attack the English force upon its march, now,when its strength was nearly doubled, suddenly decided to give battle,and advanced against the force which, wearied with its long march, hadjust begun to prepare their breakfast. The French artillery at onceput the Mahratta cavalry to flight.
Lawrence called the men again under arms, and sent Clive forward toreconnoitre. He found the French infantry drawn up, with twenty-twoguns, with large bodies of cavalry on either flank. Opposite to thecentre of their position was a large caravansary, or native inn, withstone buildings attached. It was nearer to their position than to thatoccupied by the English, and Clive saw at once that, if seized andheld by the enemy's artillery, it would sweep the whole ground overwhich the English would have to advance.
He galloped back at full speed to Major Lawrence, and asked leave atonce to occupy the building. Obtaining permission, he advanced withall speed to the caravansary, with some guns and infantry.
The negligence of the French, in allowing this movement to be carriedout, was fatal to them. The English artillery opened upon them fromthe cover of the inn and buildings, and to this fire the French in theopen could reply only at a great disadvantage. After a cannonadelasting half an hour, the French, having lost forty European and threehundred native soldiers, fell back; the English having lost onlytwenty-one.
Disheartened at this result, utterly disappointed at the failure whichhad attended his long operations against Trichinopoli, without energyor decision, Law at once raised the siege of the town, abandoning agreat portion of his baggage; and, destroying great stores ofammunition and supplies, crossed an arm of the Kavari and took post inthe great fortified temple of Seringam.
The delight of the troops; so long besieged in Trichinopoli; inactive,dispirited, and hopeless, was extreme; and the exultation of MuhammudAli and his native allies was no less.
Captain Cope, towards the end of the siege, had been killed, in one ofthe little skirmishes which occasionally took place with the French.
Charlie Marryat and Peters had, owing to some of the officers seniorto them being killed or invalided, and to large numbers of freshrecruits being raised, received a step in rank. They were nowlieutenants, and each commanded a body of Sepoys, two hundred strong.At Charlie's request, Tim Kelly was detached from his company, andallowed to remain with him as soldier servant. After the retreat ofthe French, and the settling down of the English force in the linesthey had occupied, Charlie and his friend entered Trichinopoli, andwere surprised at the temples and palaces there. Although veryinferior to Tanjore, and in no way even comparable to the cities ofthe northwest of India, Trichinopoli was a far more important citythan any they had hitherto seen. They ascended the lofty rock, andvisited the fort on its summit, which looked as if, in the hands of aresolute garrison, it should be impregnable to attack.
The manner in which this rock, as well as that of Elmiseram and otherslying in sight, rose sheer up from the plain, filled them withsurprise; for, although these natural rock fortresses are commonenough in India, they are almost without an example in Europe. Aftervisiting the fort they rambled through the town, and were amused atthe scene of bustle in its streets; and at the gay shops, full ofarticles new and curious to them, in the bazaars.
"They are wonderfully clever and ingenious," Charlie said. "Look whatrough tools that man is working with, and what delicate and intricatework he is turning out. If these fellows could but fight as well asthey work, and were but united among themselves, not only should we beunable to set a foot in India, but the emperor, with the enormousarmies which he would be able to raise, would be able to threatenEurope. I suppose they never have been really good fighting men.Alexander, a couple of thousand years ago, defeated them; and sincethen the Afghans, and other northern peoples, have been alwaysoverrunning and conquering them.
"I can't make it out. These Sepoys, after only a few weeks' training,fight almost as well as our own men. I wonder how it is that, whencommanded by their own countrymen, they are able to make so poor afight of it.
"We had better be going back to camp again, Peters. At any moment,there may be orders for us to do something. With Major Lawrence andClive together, we are not likely to stop here long, inactive."