by G. A. Henty
Chapter 27: Masulipatam.
"I am heartily glad that you have come, Marryat," Colonel Forde said,as Charlie rode up. "I have got here at last, as you see, but that isa very different thing from getting in. An uglier place to attack Inever saw; and in other respects, matters are not bright.
"Anandraz is a constant worry and trouble to me. He has everything togain by our success, and yet will do nothing to aid it. His men areworse than useless in fight, and the only thing which we want and hecould give us--money--he will not let us have.
"Will you ride with me, to the spot where I'm erecting my batteries,and you will see the prospect for yourself?"
The prospect was, as Charlie found when he saw it, the reverse ofcheerful. The point which Forde had selected to erect his batterieswas on some sandbanks, eight hundred yards from the eastern face ofthe fort. It would be impossible to construct approaches against thewalls; and, should a breach be made, there still remained a wide creekto be crossed, beyond which lay the deep, and in most parts absolutelyimpassable, swamp.
Charlie and his men were employed in bringing in provisions from thesurrounding country; but a short distance in the rear, a French columnunder Du Rocher, with two hundred European and two thousand nativetroops, with four field pieces, watched the British, and rendered thecollection of provisions difficult. Du Rocher had several strongplaces, with European and Sepoy garrisons, near him, in which toretire in case Forde should advance against him.
"Well, Mister Charles," Tim said, one morning, "this is altogether aquare sort of a siege. Here we are, with a place in front of us withten times as many guns as we have got, and a force well nigh twice aslarge. Even if there were no walls, and no guns, I don't see how wecould get at 'em, barring we'd wings, for this bog is worse thananything in the ould country. Then behind us we've got another army,which is, they say, with the garrisons of the forts, as strong as weare. We've got little food and less money, and the troops aregrumbling mightily, I can tell you."
On the 18th of March, while his batteries were still incomplete, Fordereceived certain news that the Nizam of the Deccan, the old ally ofthe French, was advancing with an army of forty thousand men to attackhim. No British commander ever stood in a position of more imminentperil.
This completed the terror of Anandraz. Du Rocher had caused reports tobe circulated that he intended to march against that chief'sterritories, and the news of the approach of the nizam, who was hissuzerain lord, completed his dismay. He refused to advance anotherpenny. Colonel Forde had already expended the prize money gained bythe troops, his own private funds, and those of his officers, inbuying food for his troops; and the men were several months in arrearof their pay.
"I'm afraid, yer honor," Tim said that evening to Charlie, "thatthere's going to be a shindy."
"What do you mean by a shindy, Tim?"
"I mane, yer honor, that the men are cursing and swearing, and sayingthe divil a bit will they fight any longer. It's rank mutiny andrebellion, yer honor; but there's something to be said for the poorboys. They have seen all the prize money they have taken spent. Not athraneen have they touched for months. Their clothes are in rags, andhere they are before a place which there's no more chance of theirtaking than there is of their flying up to the clouds. And now theyhear that, besides the French behind us, there's the nizam with fortythousand of his men marching against us. It's a purty kettle of fishaltogether, yer honor.
"It isn't for myself I care, Mr. Charles. Haven't I got an order in mypocket, on the treasury at Madras, for three hundred pound and over;but it's mighty hard, yer honor, just when one has become a wealthyman, to be shut up in a French prison."
"Well, Tim, I hope there will be no trouble; but I own that thingslook bad."
"Hossein has been saying, yer honor, that he thinks that the best waywould be for him and me to go out and chop off the heads of half adozen of the chief ringleaders. But I thought I'd better be afterasking yer honor's pleasure in the affair, before I set about it."
To Tim's great disappointment, Charlie told him that the step was oneto which he could hardly assent, at present.
The next morning, the troops turned out with their arms, andthreatened to march away. Forde spoke to them gently, but firmly. Hetold them that he could not believe that men who had behaved sogallantly, at Condore, would fail now in their duty. He begged them toreturn to their tents, and to send two of their number, as deputies,to him.
This they did. The deputies came to the colonel's tent, and told himthat all were resolved to fight no more; unless they were immediatelypaid the amount of prize money due to them, and were assured of thewhole booty, in case Masulipatam should be taken. Colonel Fordepromised that they would receive their prize money out of the veryfirst funds which reached him. As to the booty which might be taken inMasulipatam, he said he had no power to change the regulations of theCompany, but that he would beg them, under consideration of thehardships which the troops had endured, and their great services, toforego their half of the plunder. Directly Masulipatam was taken, hesaid, he would divide one half among them, and hold the other until heobtained the Company's answer to his request. Then he would distributeit, at once. With this answer the troops were satisfied, and returnedat once to their duty.
On the 25th, the guns of the battery opened fire upon the fort, butthe damage which they did was inconsiderable. On the 27th, news camethat the French army of observation had retaken Rajahmahendri; andthat the nizam, with his army, had arrived at Baizwara, forty milesdistant. Letters came in, from the nizam to Anandraz, ordering himinstantly to quit the English camp, and join him. The rajah was soterrified that, that night, he started with his troops without givingany information of his intentions to Colonel Forde; and dilatory aswere his motions in general, he, on this occasion, marched sixteenmiles before daybreak.
The instant Colonel Forde heard that he had left, he sent for CharlieMarryat.
"I suppose you have heard, Marryat, that that scoundrel Anandraz hasbolted. Ride off to him with your troop, and do your best to persuadehim to return."
"I will do so, sir," Charlie said; "but really, it seems to me that weare better without him than with him. His men only consume ourprovisions, and cause trouble, and they are no more good fighting thanso many sheep."
"That is so," Colonel Forde said. "But in the first place, his fivethousand men, absolutely worthless as they are, swell our forces to arespectable size. If Conflans and Du Rocher saw how small is ourreally fighting body, they would fall upon us together, and annihilateus. In the second place, if Anandraz goes to the nizam he will atonce, of course, declare for the French, and will give up Vizapatamand the rest of the ground we won by the battle of Condore. The wholeof the fruits of the campaign would be lost, and we should only holdthat portion of the Northern Sirkars on which our troops here areencamped."
"I beg your pardon, Colonel," Charlie said. "You are right, and I amwrong. I will start at once."
Putting himself at the head of his five-and-twenty men, Charlie rodeoff at once in pursuit of the rajah. He found him encamped in avillage. Charlie had already instructed his men as to the course whichthey were to pursue, and halted them at a distance of fifty yards fromthe rajah's tent. Then dismounting, and followed by Tim as hisorderly, and Hossein as his body servant, he walked to the tent.
He found Anandraz surrounded by his chief officers. The rajah receivedhim coldly; but Charlie, paying no attention to this, took a seatclose to him.
"I am come, Rajah," he said, "from Colonel Forde, to point out to youthe folly of the course which you have pursued. By the line which youhave taken so far, it is evidently your intention to cross theGodavery, and retire to your own country. What chance have you ofaccomplishing this? By this time, the cavalry of the nizam will bescattered over the whole country between this and the Godavery. AtRajahmahendri is Du Rocher, with his army, who will take you in flank.Even supposing that you reach your own country, what is the futureopen to you? If the English are finally successful, they
will depriveyou of your rank and possessions for deserting them now. If the Frenchare victorious, they and the nizam will then turn their attention toyou; and you cannot hope to escape with life, when your treason hasbrought such troubles upon them."
The rajah looked for a minute doubtful; and then, encouraged by themurmurs of the officers around him, who were weary of the expeditionand its labours, although their troops had not fired a single shot, hesaid obstinately:
"No more words are needed. I have made up my mind."
"And so have I," Charlie said, and with a sudden spring he leaped uponthe rajah, seized him by the throat, and placed a pistol to his ear.
Hossein drew his sword, and rushed to his side. Tim ran outside andheld up his arm, and the little body of cavalry at once rode up; and,half of them dismounting, entered the tent with drawn swords.
So astounded were the officers of the rajah, at Charlie's suddenattack, that for a moment they knew not what to do; and before theycould recover from their surprise, Charlie's troopers entered.
"Take this man," Charlie said, pointing to the rajah, "to that tree,and hang him at once. Cut down any of these fellows who move afinger."
The rajah was dragged to the tree, almost lifeless with terror.
"Now, Rajah," Charlie said, "you either give instant orders for yourarmy to march back to Masulipatam, or up you go on that branch abovethere."
The terrified rajah instantly promised to carry out Charlie's orders,and to remain faithful to the English. The officers were brought outfrom the tent, and received orders from the rajah to set his troopsinstantly in motion on their way back. The rajah was led to his tent,and there kept under a guard, until the army was in motion. When thewhole of it was well on its way, Charlie said:
"Now, Rajah, we will ride on. We will say no more about this littleaffair, and I will ask Colonel Forde to forgive your ill behaviour inleaving him. But mind, if at any future time you attempt to disobeyhis orders, or to retire from the camp, I will blow out your brains;even if I have to follow you, with my men, into the heart of your ownpalace."
Upon their return to the British camp, Charlie explained to ColonelForde the measures which he was obliged to take, to convince the rajahof the soundness of his arguments; and of these Colonel Forde entirelyapproved. He told Charlie that he had sent off, to open negotiationswith Salabut Jung, so as to detain him as long as possible atBaizwara.
Without any intermission, the batteries continued to play on the fortfrom the 25th of March to the 6th of April. Several houses had beendestroyed, and some breaches effected; but these the French repairedin the night, as fast as they were made. They were aware of theposition of the English, and regarded the siege with contempt.
On the morning of the 7th, news came that the nizam was advancing fromBaizwara to attack the English; and that Du Rocher was hurrying fromRajahmahendri, to effect a junction with him. The same morning, thesenior artillery officer reported to Colonel Forde that only two days'ammunition for the batteries remained in store. He learned, too, thata ship with three hundred French soldiers would arrive, in the courseof a day or two.
The position was, indeed, a desperate one, and there remained only thealternatives of success against the fort, or total destruction. Hedetermined to attack. All day, his batteries kept up a heavier firethan ever, maintaining an equal fire against all the bastions in orderthat, if the enemy should obtain any information of the projectedattack, they would not know against which point it was directed.Colonel Forde had ascertained that fishermen were in the habit ofmaking their way, across the swamp, to the southwest angle of thefort, that on the sea face opposite to the British frontiers. Hedetermined to effect a diversion, by an attack upon that side; andtherefore ordered Captain Knox, with seven hundred Sepoys, to make adetour to cross the swamp, and to attack upon that side. Still furtherto distract the attention of the garrison, he instructed Anandraz toadvance with his men along the causeway, and to open fire against theravelin. The main attack, which consisted of the rest of the force,composed of three hundred and twenty European infantry, thirtygunners, thirty sailors, and seven hundred Sepoys, was to be deliveredagainst the breach in the bastion, mounting ten guns, in the northeastangle of the fort.
At ten o'clock, the force drew up under arms. The fire of thebatteries was kept up, much later than usual, in order that the enemyshould have no time to repair the breaches. The hour of midnight wasfixed for the attack, as at that time the tide was at its lowest, andthe water in the ditches round the ramparts not more than three feetdeep.
Captain Knox and his party started first. The main body should haveset out half an hour later, but were detained, owing to theunaccountable absence of Captain Callender, the officer who was tocommand it. As this officer was afterwards killed, the cause of hisabsence was never explained. The party started without him, and beforethey could reach the ditch, they heard the sound of firing from thefarther corner of the fort, telling that Knox was already at work.
"Shure, yer honor," muttered Tim, as he made his way through theswamp, knee deep, beside his master, "this is worse than the daybefore Plassey. It was water then, but this thick mud houlds one'slegs fast at every step. I've lost one of my boots, already."
It was indeed hard work; but at last, the head of the column reachedthe ditch, just as a fresh burst of firing told that the RajahAnandraz was attacking the ravelin. The French, in their belief in theabsolute security of the place, had taken but few precautions againstan attack; and it was not until the leading party had waded, nearlybreast high, through the ditch; and began to break down the palisadebeyond it, that they were discovered. Then a heavy artillery andmusketry fire from the bastions on the right and left was opened uponthe assailants.
Captain Fisher with the first division attacked the breach; CaptainMaclean with the second covered them, by opening fire upon the bastionon their right; while the third, led by Captain Yorke, replied to thaton their left. Charlie, although superior in rank to any of theseofficers, had no specific command, but accompanied the party as asimple volunteer.
The storming party soon mounted the breach, and Yorke's divisionjoined it on the top. Yorke, turning to the left, seized the bastionwhich was firing on Maclean; while Fisher turned along the ramparts tothe right, to secure the bastions in that direction.
Just as Yorke was setting out he saw a strong body of French Sepoys,advancing between the foot of the ramparts and the buildings of thetown. These had been sent, directly the firing was heard, to reinforcethe bastion just carried. Without a moment's hesitation, Yorke randown the rampart, seized the French officer who commanded, and orderedhim to surrender at once, as the place was already taken. Confused andbewildered, the officer gave up his sword, and ordered the Sepoys tolay down their arms. They were then sent, as prisoners, into thebastion.
Yorke now pushed forward, with his men, at the foot of the rampart;and carried two out of three of the bastions on that side. The men,however, separated from the rest, and alone in the unknown town, werebeginning to lose heart. Suddenly they came upon a small magazine, andsome of the men called out, "A mine!" Seized with a sudden panic, thewhole division ran back, leaving Yorke alone with two native drummerboys, who continued to beat the advance. The soldiers, however, didnot stop running until they reached the bastion.
Captain Yorke went back, and found that many of the soldiers wereproposing to leave the fort, altogether. He swore that he would cutdown the first man who moved, and some of the men who had served withhim in the 39th, ashamed of their conduct, said that they would followhim. Heading the thirty-six men who had now come to their senses,Captain Yorke again advanced, with the drummer boys.
Just as he was setting out, Charlie, who had at first gone withFisher's division, hearing an entire cessation of fire on the otherside, ran up to see what was going on.
"Major Marryat," Captain Yorke said, "will you rally these fellows,and bring them after me. They've been frightened with a false alarm ofa mine, and have lost their heads altogether."
> Charlie, aided by Tim, exerted himself to the utmost to encourage andcommand the soldiers, shaming them by telling them that while they,European soldiers, were cowering in the bastion, their Sepoy comradeswere winning the town.
"Unless," he said, "in one minute the whole of you are formed up readyto advance, I will take care that not one shall have a share in theprize money that will be won tonight."
The men now fell in, and Charlie led them after Captain Yorke. Thefirst retreat of the latter's division had given the French time torally a little, and as he now made along the rampart towards thebastion on the river, the French officer in command there, havingturned a gun and loaded it with grape, discharged it when the Englishwere within a few yards. Captain Yorke fell, badly wounded. The twoblack drummer boys were killed, as were several of the men, andsixteen others were wounded.
Charlie, hurrying along with the rest of the party, met the survivorsof Captain Yorke's little band coming back, carrying their woundedofficer.
"There," Charlie shouted to his men, "that is your doing. Now retrieveyourselves. Show you are worthy of the name of British soldiers."
With a shout, the men rushed forward and carried the bastion, and thiscompleted the capture of the whole of the wall, from the northeastangle to the river.
In the meantime Captain Fisher, with his division, was advancing tothe right along the rampart. Maclean's men had joined him, and theywere pushing steadily forward. Colonel Forde continued with thereserve at the bastion first taken, receiving reports from bothdivisions as they advanced, and sending the necessary orders. As fastas the prisoners were brought in, they were sent down the breach intothe ditch, where they were guarded by Sepoys, who threatened to shootany that tried to climb up.
Meanwhile, all was disorder in the town. Greatly superior as were thebesieged to their assailants in number, they could, if properlyhandled, have easily driven them back. Instead, however, ofdisregarding the attack by Knox at the southwest angle, which wasclearly only a feint; and that of Anandraz on the ravelin, which mighthave been disregarded with equal safety; and concentrating all theirforces against the main attack, they made no sustained effort againsteither of the columns, which were rapidly carrying bastion afterbastion. Conflans appeared to have completely lost his head, asmessenger after messenger arrived at his house, by the river, withnews of the progress of the English columns.
As Fisher's division advanced towards the bastion in which was thegreat gate, the French who had gathered there again attempted to checkhis progress. But his men reserved their fire, until close to theenemy; and then, discharging a volley at a few yards' distance, theyrapidly cleared the bastion. Fisher at once closed the great gates,and thus cut off all the defenders of the ravelin, and prevented anyof the troops within from joining these, and cutting their way throughthe rajah's troops, which would have been no difficult matter.
Just as the division were again advancing, Captain Callender, to theastonishment of everyone, appeared and took his place at its head. Afew shots only were fired after this, and the last discharge killedCaptain Callender.
By this time Conflans, bewildered and terrified, had sent a message toColonel Forde, offering to surrender on honorable terms. Colonel Fordesent back to say that he would give no terms whatever; that the townwas in his power and further resistance hopeless; and that, if itcontinued longer, he would put all who did not surrender to the sword.On the receipt of this message, Conflans immediately sent round ordersthat all his men were to lay down their arms, and to fall in, in theopen space by the water.
The English assembled, on the parade, by the bastion of the gateway.Captain Knox's column was marched round, from the southwest, into thetown. A strong body of artillery kept guard over the prisoners tillmorning. Then the gate was opened, and the French in the ravelinentered the fort, and became prisoners with the rest of the garrison.The whole number of prisoners exceeded three thousand, of whom fivehundred were Europeans and the rest Sepoys. The loss of the Englishwas twenty-two Europeans killed, and sixty-two wounded. The Sepoys hadfifty killed and a hundred and fifty wounded. The rajah's people, whohad kept up their false attack upon the ravelin with much more braveryand resolution than had been expected, also lost a good many men.
Considering the natural strength of the position, that the garrisonwas, both in European troops and Sepoys, considerably stronger thanthe besiegers, that the fort mounted a hundred and twenty guns, andthat a relieving army, enormously superior to that of the besiegers,was within fifteen miles at the time the assault was made, the captureof Masulipatam may claim to rank among the very highest deeds everperformed by British arms.