"The many deceitful wicked measures that the Frenchhave taken to endeavour to deprive me of the Nawab'sfavour (tho' I thank God they have proved in vain, sincehis Excellency's friendship towards me is daily increasing)has long made me look on them as enemies to the English,but I could no longer stifle my resentment when I foundthat ... they dared to oppose the freedom of the Englishtrade on the Ganges by seizing a boat with an Englishdustuck,[36] and under English colours that was passing by theirtown. I am therefore come to a resolution to attack them.I am told that some of the Government's forces have beenperswaded under promise of great rewards from the Frenchto join them against us; I should be sorry, at a time whenI am so happy in his Excellency's favour and friendship, thatI should do any injury to his servants; I am therefore todesire you will send these forces an order to withdraw, andthat no other may come to their assistance."[37]
What Clive feared was that, though the Nawab might not interfere openly, some of his servants might receive secret orders to do so, and on the 22nd of March he wrote even more curtly to Rai Durlabh himself:—
"I hear you are arrived within 20 miles of Hughly.Whether you come as a friend or an enemy, I know not. Ifas the latter, say so at once, and I will send some people outto fight you immediately.... Now you know my mind."[38]
When diplomatic correspondence was conducted in letters of this kind, it is easy to understand that the Nawab was frightened out of his wits, and absolutely unable to decide what course he should take. There was little likelihood of the siege being influenced by anything he might do.
The outpost mentioned as the object of the first attack was a small earthwork, erected at the meeting of three roads. It was covered by the Moorish troops, who held the roofs of the houses around. As the intention of the outposts was merely to prevent the town from being surprised, and to enable the inhabitants to take shelter in the Fort, the outpost ought to have been withdrawn as quickly as possible, but, probably because they thought it a point of honour to make a stout defence wherever they were first attacked, the defenders stood to it gallantly. Renault sent repeated reinforcements, first the company of grenadiers, then at 9 o'clock the company of artillery, and at 10 o'clock, when the surrounding houses were in flames, and many of the Moors had fled, a company of volunteers. With these, and a further reinforcement of sixty sailors, the little fort held out till 7 o'clock in the evening, when the English, after three fruitless assaults, ceased fire and withdrew. Street fighting is always confusing, and hence the following vague description of the day's events from Captain Eyre Coote's journal:—
"Colonel Clive ordered the picquets, with the company'sgrenadiers, to march into the French bounds, which is encompassedwith an old ditch,[39] the entrance into it a gatewaywith embrasures on the top but no cannons, which theFrench evacuated on our people's advancing. As soon asCaptain Lynn, who commanded the party, had taken possession,he acquainted the Colonel, who ordered Major Kilpatrickand me, with my company of grenadiers, to join CaptainLynn, and send him word after we had reconnoitred theplace. On our arrival there we found a party of French wasin possession of a road leading to a redoubt that they hadthrown up close under their fort, where they had a batteryof cannon, and upon our advancing down the road, they firedsome shots at us. We detached some parties through a wood,and drove them from the road into their batteries with theloss of some men; we then sent for the Colonel, who, as soonas he joined us, sent to the camp for more troops. Wecontinued firing at each other in an irregular manner tillabout noon, at which time the Colonel ordered me to continuewith my grenadier company and about 200 sepoys at theadvance post, and that he would go with the rest of ourtroops to the entrance, which was about a mile back. About2 o'clock word was brought me that the French were makinga sortie. Soon after, I perceived the sepoys retiring fromtheir post, upon which I sent to the Colonel to let him knowthe French were coming out. I was then obliged to dividemy company, which consisted of about 50 men, into 2 or 3parties (very much against my inclination) to take possessionof the ground the sepoys had quitted. We fired prettywarmly for a quarter of an hour from the different partiesat each other, when the French retreated again into theirbattery. On this occasion I had a gentleman (Mr. Tooke[40]),who was a volunteer, killed, and 2 of my men wounded.The enemy lost 5 or 6 Europeans and some blacks. I gotclose under the battery, and was tolerably well sheltered byan old house, where I continued firing till about 7 o'clock,at which time I was relieved, and marched back to camp."
The defenders were much exhausted, as well by the fighting as by the smoke and heat from the burning houses and the heat of the weather, for it was almost the hottest season of the year. It seemed probable that the English would make another attack during the night, and as the defenders already amounted to a very large portion of the garrison, it was almost impossible to reinforce them without leaving the Fort itself in great danger, if Clive managed to approach it from any other quarter. Renault called a council of war, and, after taking the opinion of his officers in writing to the effect that the outposts must be abandoned, he withdrew the defenders at 9 o'clock, under cover of the darkness: The French had suffered a loss of only 10 men killed and wounded. Clive mentions that, at the same time, all the other outposts and batteries, except those on the river side, were withdrawn.
Mustering his forces in the Fort, Renault found them to be composed of 237 soldiers (of whom 117 were deserters from the British), 120 sailors, 70 half-castes and private Europeans, 100 persons employed by the Company, 167 Sepoys and 100Topasses. Another French account puts the total of the French garrison at 489, but this probably excludes many of the private people.[41]
On the 15th the English established themselves in the town, and drove out the Moors who had been stationed on the roofs of the houses. This gave them to some extent the command of the interior of the Fort, but no immediate attack was made on the latter. A French account[42] says this was because—
"all their soldiers were drunk with the wine they had foundin the houses. Unfortunately we did not know of this. Itwould have been the moment to make a sortie, of which theresults must have been favourable to us, the enemy beingincapable of defence."
During the night of the 15th the Fort was bombarded, and on the morning of the 16th the British completed the occupation of the houses deserted by the Moors. The latter not being received into the Fort, either fled or were sent away. They betook themselves to Nand Kumar, the Faujdar of Hugli, announcing the capture of the town. Nand Kumar, who is said to have had an understanding with the British, sent on the message to Rai Durlabh and the Nawab, with the malicious addition that the Fort, if it had not already fallen, would fall before Rai Durlabh could reach it. This put an end to all chance of the Nawab interfering.
The French spent the day in blocking a narrow passage formed by a sandbank in the river, a short distance below the town. They sank—
"four large ships and a hulk,... and had a chain and boomacross in order to prevent our going up with the squadron.Captain Toby sent his 2nd lieutenant, Mr. Bloomer, that night,who cut the chain and brought off a sloop that buoyed it up."[43]
It was apparently this rapid attack on the position that accounts for the timidity of the pilots and boatmen, who, Renault tells us, hurried away without staying to sink two other ships which were half laden, and which, if sunk, would have completely blocked the passage. Even on the ships which were sunk the masts had been left standing, so as to point out their position to the enemy.
Besides the ships sunk in the passage, there were at Chandernagore the French East Indiaman theSaint Contest(Captain de la Vigne Buisson), four large ships, and several small ones. The French needed all the sailors for the Fort, so they sank all the vessels they could not send up the river except three, which it was supposed they intended to use as fire-ships.
Clive, in the meantime, was advancing cautiously, his men erecting batteries, which seemed to be very easily silenced by the superior gunnery of the Fort. His object was partly to weary out the garrison by constant fighting, and partly to creep round to the river face, so as to be in a position to take the batteries which commanded the narrow river passage, as soon as Admiral Watson was ready to attack the Fort. Later on, the naval officers asserted he could not have taken the Fort without the assistance of the fleet. He said he could, and it is certain that if he had had no fleet to assist him his mode of attack would have been a very different one.
Early in the siege the French were warned from Chinsurah to beware of treachery amongst the deserters in their pay, and on the 17th of March a number of arrows were found in the Fort with labels attached, bearing the words:—
"Pardon to deserters who will rejoin their colours, andrewards to officers who will come over to us."
These were seized by the officers before the men could see them, but one of the officers themselves, Charles Cossard de Terraneau, a sub-lieutenant of the garrison, took advantage of the offer to go over to the English. This officer had served with credit in the South of India, and had lost an arm in his country's service. The reason of his desertion is said to have been a quarrel with M. Renault. M. Raymond, the translator of a native history of the time by Gholam Husain Khan,[44] tells a story of De Terraneau which seems improbable. It is to the effect that he betrayed the secret of the river passage to Admiral Watson, and that a few years later he sent home part of the reward of his treachery to his father in France. The old man returned the money with indignant comments on his son's conduct, and De Terraneau committed suicide in despair. As a matter of fact, De Terraneau was a land officer,[45] and therefore not likely to be able to advise the Admiral, who, as we shall see, solved the riddle of the passage in a perfectly natural manner, and the Probate Records show that De Terraneau lived till 1765, and in his will left his property to his wife Ann, so the probability is that he lived and died quietly in the British service. His only trouble seems to have been to get himself received by his new brother officers. However, he was, so Clive tells us, the only artillery officer the French had, and his desertion was a very serious matter. Renault writes:—
"The same night, by the improved direction of thebesiegers' bombs, I had no doubt but that he had done usa bad service."
On the 18th the French destroyed a battery which the English had established near the river, and drove them out of a house opposite the south-east bastion. The same day the big ships of the squadron—theKent(Captain Speke), theTyger(Captain Latham), and theSalisbury(Captain Martin), appeared below the town. TheBridgewaterandKingfisherhad come up before. Admiral Watson was on board theKent, and Admiral Pocock on theTyger. The fleet anchored out of range of the Fort at the Prussian Gardens, a mile and a half below the town, and half a mile below the narrow passage in which the ships had been sunk.
On the 19th Admiral Watson formally announced the declaration of war,[46] and summoned the Fort to surrender. The Governor called a council of war, in which there was much difference of opinion. Some thought the Admiral would not have come so far without his being certain of his ability to force the passage; indeed the presence of so many deserters in the garrison rendered it probable that he had secret sources of information. As a matter of fact, it was only when Lieutenant Hey, the officer who had brought the summons, and, in doing so, had rowed between the masts of the sunken vessels, returned to theKent, that Admiral Watson knew the passage was clear. Renault and the Council were aware that the Fort could not resist the big guns of the ships, and accordingly the more thoughtful members of the council of war determined, if possible, to try and avoid fighting by offering a ransom. This apparently gave rise to the idea that they wished to surrender, and an English officer says:—
"Upon the Admiral's sending them a summons ... tosurrender, they were very stout; they gave us to understandthere were two parties in the Factory, the Renaultions andthe anti-Renaultions. The former, which they called thegreat-wigg'd gentry, or councillors, were for giving up theFort, but the others vowed they would die in the breach. Tothese high and lofty expressions the Admiral could give noother answer than that in a very few days, or hours perhaps,he would give them a very good opportunity of testifyingtheir zeal for the Company and the Grand Monarque."
The offer of ransom was made, and was refused by the Admiral. Renault says, he—
"insisted on our surrendering and the troops taking possessionof the Fort,promising, however, that every one should keep hisown property. There was not a man amongst us who did notprefer to run the risk of whatever might happen to surrenderingin this fashion, without the Fort having yet suffered anymaterial damage, and every one was willing to risk his owninterests in order to defend those of the Company. Everyone swore to do his best."
The Admiral could not attack at once, owing to the state of the river, but to secure his own position against any counter-attack, such as was very likely with a man like Captain de la Vigne in the Fort, he sent up boats the same night, and sank the vessels which it was supposed the French intended to use as fire-ships; and the next day Mr. John Delamotte, master of theKent, under a heavy fire, sounded and buoyed the passage for the ships.
The army, meanwhile, continued its monotonous work ashore, the soldiers building batteries for the French to knock to pieces, but succeeding in Clive's object, which was "to keep the enemy constantly awake."[47] Sometimes this work was dangerous, as, for instance, on the 21st, when a ball from the Fort knocked down a verandah close to one of the English batteries, "the rubbish of which choked up one of our guns, very much bruised two artillery officers, and buried several men in the ruins."[48]
By the 22nd Clive had worked his way round to the river, and was established to the north-east and south-east of the Fort so as to assist the Admiral, and on the river the Admiral had at last got the high tide he was waiting for. Surgeon Ives tells the story as follows:[49]—
"The Admiral the same evening ordered lights to beplaced on the masts of the vessels that had been sunk, withblinds towards the Fort, that we might see how to passbetween them a little before daylight, and without beingdiscovered by the enemy."At length the glorious morning of the 23rd of Marcharrived." Clive's men gallantly stormed the battery coveringthe narrow pass,[50] "and upon the ships getting under sail theColonel's battery, which had been finished behind a deadwall," to take off the fire of the Fort when the ships passedup, began firing away, and had almost battered down thecorner of the south-east bastion before the ships arrivedwithin shot of the Fort. "TheTyger, with Admiral Pocock'sflag flying, took the lead, and about 6 o'clock in the morninggot very well into her station against the north-east bastion.TheKent, with Admiral Watson's flag flying, quickly followedher, but before she could reach her proper station, the tide ofebb unfortunately made down the river, which occasioned heranchor to drag, so that before she brought up she had fallenabreast of the south-east bastion, the place where theSalisburyshould have been, and from her mainmast aft she was exposedto the flank guns of the south-west bastion also. The accidentof theKent'sanchor not holding fast, and her driving downinto theSalisbury'sstation, threw this last ship out of action,to the great mortification of the captain, officers, and crew,for she never had it in her power to fire a gun, unless it wasnow and then, when she could sheer on the tide. The French,during the whole time of theKentandTyger'sapproachtowards the Fort, kept up a terrible cannonade upon them,without any resistance on their part; but as soon as theships came properly to an anchor they returned it with suchfury as astonished their adversaries. Colonel Clive's troopsat the same time got into those houses which were nearestthe Fort, and from thence greatly annoyed the enemy withtheir musketry. Our ships lay so near to the Fort that themusket balls fired from their tops, by striking against thechunam[51] walls of the Governor's palace, which was inthe very centre of the Fort, were beaten as flat as a half-crown.The fire now became general on both sides, and waskept up with extraordinary spirit. The flank guns of thesouth-west bastion galled theKentvery much, and theAdmiral's aide-de-camps being all wounded, Mr. Watson wentdown himself to Lieutenant William Brereton, who commandedthe lower deck battery, and ordered him particularlyto direct his fire against those guns, and they were accordinglysoon afterwards silenced. At 8 in the morningseveral of the enemy's shot struck theKentat the sametime; one entered near the foremast, and set fire to two orthree 32-pound cartridges of gunpowder, as the boys heldthem in their hands ready to charge the guns. By the explosion,the wad-nets and other loose things took fire betweendecks, and the whole ship was so filled with smoke that themen, in their confusion, cried out she was on fire in thegunner's store-room, imagining from the shock they hadfelt from the balls that a shell had actually fallen into her.This notion struck a panic into the greater part of the crew,and 70 or 80 jumped out of the port-holes into the boatsthat were alongside the ship. The French presently sawthis confusion on board theKent, and, resolving to take theadvantage, kept up as hot a fire as possible upon her duringthe whole time. Lieutenant Brereton, however, with theassistance of some other brave men, soon extinguished thefire, and then running to the ports, he begged the seamen tocome in again, upbraiding them for deserting their quarters;but finding this had no effect upon them, he thought themore certain method of succeeding would be to strike themwith a sense of shame, and therefore loudly exclaimed, 'Areyou Britons? You Englishmen, and fly from danger? Forshame! For shame!' This reproach had the desired effect;to a man they immediately returned into the ship, repairedto their quarters, and renewed a spirited fire on the enemy."In about three hours from the commencement of theattack the parapets of the north and south bastions werealmost beaten down; the guns were mostly dismounted, andwe could plainly see from the main-top of theKentthat theruins from the parapet and merlons had entirely blocked upthose few guns which otherwise might have been fit forservice. We could easily discern, too, that there had beena great slaughter among the enemy, who, finding that ourfire against them rather increased, hung out the white flag,whereupon a cessation of hostilities took place, and theAdmiral sent Lieutenant Brereton (the only commissionedofficer on board theKentthat was not killed or wounded)and Captain Coote of the King's regiment with a flag of truceto the Fort, who soon returned, accompanied by the FrenchGovernor's son, with articles of capitulation, which beingsettled by the Admiral and Colonel, we soon after took possessionof the place."
So far then from the besiegers' side; Renault's description of the fight is as follows:—
"The three largest vessels, aided by the high-water ofthe equinoctial tides, which, moreover, had moved the vesselssunk in the narrow passage, passed over the sunken ships,which did not delay them for a moment, to within halfpistol shot of the Fort, and opened fire at 6 a.m. Then thetroops in the battery on the bank of the Ganges, who hadso far fired only one discharge, suddenly found themselvesoverwhelmed with the fire from the tops of the ships,abandoned it, and had much difficulty in gaining the Fort....I immediately sent the company of grenadiers, with a detachmentof the artillery company as reinforcements, to thesouth-eastern bastion and the Bastion du Pavillon, which twobastions face the Ganges; but those troops under the fire ofthe ships, joined to that of the land batteries,rebuilt thesame night, and of more than 3000 men placed on the roofsof houses which overlooked the Fort, almost all took flight,leaving two of their officers behind, one dead and the otherwounded. I was obliged to send immediately all the marineand the inhabitants from the other posts."The attack was maintained with vigour from 6 a.m. to10.30, when all the batteries were covered with dead andwounded, the guns dismounted, and the merlons destroyed,in spite of their being strengthened with bales of cloth. Noone could show himself on the bastions, demolished by thefire of more than 100 guns; the troops were terrified duringthis attack by the loss of all the gunners and of nearly200 men; the bastions were undermined, and threatened tocrumble away and make a breach, which the exhaustion ofour people, and the smallness of the number who remained,made it impossible for us to hope to defend successfully.Not a soldier would put his hand to a gun; it was only theEuropean marine who stood to their duty, and half of thesewere already killed or disabled. A body of English troops,lying flat on the ground behind the screen which we had commencedto erect on the bank of the Ganges, was waiting thesignal to attack. Seeing the impossibility of holding out longer,I thought that in the state in which the Fort was I could notin prudence expose it to an assault. Consequently I hoistedthe white flag and ordered the drums to beat a parley."
According to an account written later by a person who was not present at the siege, Renault lost his Fort by a quarter of an hour. This writer says the tide was rapidly falling, and, had the eastern defences of the Fort been able to resist a little longer, the ships would have found their lower tiers of guns useless, and might have been easily destroyed by the French. Suppositions of this kind always suppose a stupidity on the part of the enemy which Renault had no right to count upon. Admiral Watson must have known the strength of the fortress he was about to attack before he placed his ships in a position from which it would be impossible to withdraw them whenever he wished to do so.
The flag of truce being displayed, Captain Eyre Coote was sent ashore, and returned in a quarter of an hour with the Governor's son bearing "a letter concerning the delivery of the place." Articles were agreed upon, and about 3 o'clock in the afternoon Captain Coote, with a company of artillery and two companies of grenadiers, took possession of the Fort. Before this took place there occurred an event the consequences of which were very unfortunate for the French. Everything was in a state of confusion, and the deserters, who formed the majority of the garrison, expecting no mercy from the Admiral and Clive, determined to escape. Rushing tumultuously to the Porte Royale, their arms in their hands, they forced it to be opened to them, and, finding the northern road to Chinsurah unguarded, made the best of their way in that direction. They were accompanied by a number of the military and marine, as well as by some of the Company's servants and private persons who were determined not to surrender. As all this took place after the hoisting of the white flag and pending the conclusion of the capitulation, the English considered it a breach of the laws of warfare, and when later on the meaning of the capitulation itself was contested they absolutely refused to listen to any of the representations of the French. In all about 150 persons left the Fort. They had agreed to reassemble at a place a little above Hugli. The English sent a small force after them, who shot some and captured others, but about 80 officers and men arrived at the rendezvous in safety. The pursuit, however, was carried further, and Law writes:—
"Constantly pursued, they had to make forced marches.Some lost their way; others, wearied out, were caught as theystopped to rest themselves. However, when I least expectedit, I was delighted to see the officers and many of the soldiersarrive in little bands of 5 and 6, all naked, and so worn outthat they could hardly hold themselves upright. Most ofthem had lost their arms."
This reinforcement increased Law's garrison from 10 or 12 men to 60, and secured the safety of his person, but the condition of the fugitives must have been an object lesson to the Nawab and hisDurbarwhich it was not wise for the French to set before them. A naval officer writes:—
"From the letters that have lately passed between theNawab and us, we have great reason to hope he will notscreen the French at all at Cossimbazar or Dacca. I onlywish the Colonel does not alarm him too much, by movingwith the army to the northward, I do assure you he is sosufficiently frightened that he had rather encounter the newMogul[52] himself than accept our assistance, though he strenuouslybegged for it about three weeks ago. He writes wordhe needs no fuller assurance of our friendship for him, whena single letter brought us so far on the road to Murshidabadas Chandernagore."[53]
The escape of the French from Chandernagore is of interest, as it shows the extraordinary condition of the country. It is probable that the peasantry and gentry were indifferent as to whether the English or the French were victorious, whilst the local authorities were so paralyzed by the Nawab's hesitation that they did not know which side to assist. Later on we shall find that small parties, and even solitary Frenchmen, wandered through the country with little or no interference, though the English had been recognized as the friends and allies of the new Nawab, Mir Jafar.
To return, however, to Renault and the garrison of Chandernagore. The capitulation proposed by Renault and the Admiral's answers were to the following effect:—
1. The lives of the deserters to be spared.Answer. The deserters to surrender absolutely.
2. Officers of the garrison to be prisoners on parole, and allowed to keep their effects.Answer. Agreed to.
3. Soldiers of the garrison to be prisoners of war.Answer. Agreed to, on condition that foreigners may enter the English service.
4. Sepoys of the garrison to be set free.Answer. Agreed to.
5. Officers and crew of the French Company's ship to be sent to Pondicherry.Answer. These persons to be prisoners of war according to articles 2 and 3.
6. The Jesuit fathers to be allowed to practise their religion and retain their property.Answer. No European to be allowed to remain at Chandernagore, but the fathers to be allowed to retain their property.
7. All inhabitants to retain their property.Answer. This to be left to the Admiral's sense of equity.
8. The French Factories up-country to be left in the hands of their present chiefs.Answer. This to be settled by the Nawab and the Admiral.
9. The French Company's servants to go where they please, with their clothes and linen.Answer. Agreed to.
It is evident that the capitulation was badly drawn up. Civilians who had taken part in the defence, as had all the Company's servants, might be justly included in the garrison, and accordingly Admiral Watson and Clive declared they were all prisoners of war, and that article 9 merely permitted them to reside where they pleased onparole. On the other hand, Renault and the French Council declared that, being civilians, nothing could make them part of the garrison, and therefore under article 9 they might do what they pleased. Accordingly, they expressed much surprise when they were stopped at the Fort gates by one of Clive's officers, and forced to sign, before they were allowed to pass, a paper promising not to act against Britain directly or indirectly during the course of the war.
Another point of difficulty was in reference to article 7. The town had been in the hands of the British soldiers and sepoys for days. Much had been plundered, and both soldiers and sailors were wild for loot. They considered that the Admiral was acting unjustly to them in restoring their property to civilians who had been offered the chance of retaining it if they would avoid unnecessary bloodshed by a prompt surrender. Instead of this, the defence was so desperate that one officer writes:—
"Our losses have been very great, and we have neveryet obtained a victory at so dear a rate. Perhaps you willhear of few instances where two ships have met with heavierdamage than theKentandTygerin this engagement."[54]
Clive's total loss was only about 40 men killed and wounded, but the loss on the ships was so great, that before the Fort surrendered the besiegers had lost quite as many men as the besieged, and it was by no means clear to the common mind what claim the French had to leniency. Even English officers wrote:—
"The Messieurs themselves deserve but little mercy fromus for their mean behaviour in setting fire to so many balesof cloth and raw silk in the Fort but a very few minutesbefore we entered, and it grieves us much, to see such anumber of stout and good vessels sunk with their wholecargoes far above the Fort, which is a great loss to us andno profit to them. Those indeed below, to hinder our passagewere necessary, the others weremerely through mischief.But notwithstanding this they scarcely ask a favour fromthe Admiral but it is granted."
The result was that the soldiers on guard began to beat the coolies who were helping the French to secure their goods, until they were induced by gifts to leave them alone, and much plundering went on when the soldiers could manage to escape notice. On one day three black soldiers were executed, and on another Sergeant Nover[55] and a private soldier of the 39th Regiment were condemned to death, for breaking open the Treasury and stealing 3000 rupees. Another theft, which was not traced, was the holy vessels and treasure of the Church.
Many individual Frenchmen were ruined. Of one of these Surgeon Ives narrates the following pleasing incident:—
"It happened unfortunately ... that Monsieur Nicolas,a man of most amiable character, and the father of a largefamily, had not been so provident as the rest of his countrymenin securing his effects within the Fort, but had left themin the town; consequently, upon Colonel Clive's first takingpossession of the place, they had all been plundered by ourcommon soldiers; and the poor gentleman and his familywere to all appearance ruined. The generous and humaneCaptain Speke,[56] having heard of the hard fate of MonsieurNicolas, took care to represent it to the two admirals in allits affecting circumstances, who immediately advanced thesum of 1500 rupees each. Their example was followed bythe five captains of the squadron, who subscribed 5000between them. Mr. Doidge added 800 more, and the samesum was thrown in by another person who was a sincere well-wisherto this unfortunate gentleman; so that a present of9600 rupees, or £1200 sterling was in a few minutes collectedtowards the relief of this valuable Frenchman and hisdistressed family. One of the company was presentlydespatched with this money, who had orders to acquaintMonsieur Nicolas that a few of his English friends desiredhis acceptance of it, as a small testimony of the very highesteem they had for his moral character, and of theirunfeigned sympathy with him in his misfortunes. The poorgentleman, quite transported by such an instance of generosityin an enemy, cried out in a sort of ecstasy, 'Good God,they axe friends indeed!' He accepted of the present withgreat thankfulness, and desired that his most gratefulacknowledgements might be made to his unknown benefactors,for whose happiness and the happiness of theirfamilies, not only his, but the prayers of his children'schildren, he hoped, would frequently be presented to heaven.He could add no more; the tears, which ran plentifully downhis cheeks, bespoke the feelings of his heart: and, indeed,implied much more than even Cicero with all his powers oforatory could possibly have expressed."
This, however, was but a solitary instance; the state of the French was, as a rule, wretched in the extreme, and Renault wrote:—
"The whole colony is dispersed, and the inhabitants areseeking an asylum, some—the greatest part—have gone toChinsurah, others to the Danes and to Calcutta. Thisdispersion being caused by the misery to which our countrymenare reduced, their poverty, which I cannot relieve,draws tears from my eyes, the more bitter that I have seenthem risk their lives so generously for the interests of theCompany, and of our nation."
In such circumstances there was but one consolation possible to brave men—the knowledge that, in the eyes of friend and foe, they had done their duty. The officers of the British army and navy all spoke warmly of the gallant behaviour of the French, and the historian Broome, himself a soldier and the chronicler of many a brave deed, expresses himself as follows:—
"The conduct of the French on this occasion was mostcreditable and well worthy the acknowledged gallantry ofthat nation. Monsieur Renault, the Governor, displayedgreat courage and determination: but the chief merit of thedefence was due to Monsieur Devignes" (Captain de laVigne Buisson), "commander of the French Company's ship,Saint Contest. He took charge of the bastions, and directedtheir fire with great skill and judgment, and by his ownexample inspired energy and courage into all those aroundhim."
Renault himself found some consolation in the gallant behaviour of his sons.
"In my misfortune I have had the satisfaction to see mytwo sons distinguish themselves in the siege with all thecourage and intrepidity which I could desire. The elderbrother was in the Company's service, and served as avolunteer; the younger, an officer in the army, was, as hasbeen said above, commandant of the volunteers."
Others who are mentioned by Renault and his companions as having distinguished themselves on the French side, were the Councillors MM. Caillot, Nicolas, and Picques, Captain de la Vigne Buisson and his son and officers, M. Sinfray (secretary to the Council), the officers De Kalli[57] and Launay, the Company's servants Matel, Le Conte Dompierre, Boissemont and Renault de St. Germain, the private inhabitant Renault de la Fuye, and the two supercargoes of Indiamen Delabar and Chambon. Caillot (or Caillaud) was wounded. The official report of the loss of Chandernagore was drawn up on the 29th of March, 1757. The original is in the French Archives, and Caillaud's signature shows that he was still suffering from his wound. Sinfray we shall come across again. He joined Law at Cossimbazar and accompanied him on his first retreat to Patna. Sent back by Law, he joined Siraj-ud-daula, and commanded the small French contingent at Plassey. When the battle was lost he took refuge in Birbhum, was arrested by the Raja, and handed over to the English.
The immediate gain to the English by the capture of Chandernagore was immense. Clive wrote to the Select Committee at Madras:—
"I cannot at present give you an account to what valuehas been taken;[58] the French Company had no great stockof merchandize remaining, having sold off most of theirImports and even their investment for Europe to pay in partthe large debts they had contracted. With respect to theartillery and ammunition ... they were not indifferentlyfurnished: there is likewise a very fine marine arsenal wellstocked. In short nothing could have happened moreseasonable for the expeditious re-establishment of Calcuttathan the reduction of Charnagore" (i.e. Chandernagore). "Itwas certainly a large, rich and thriving colony, and the lossof it is an inexpressible blow to the French Company."[59]
The French gentlemen, after having signed under protest the document presented to them by Clive, betook themselves to Chinsurah, where they repudiated their signatures as having been extorted by force, subsequent to, and contrary to, the capitulation. They proceeded to communicate with Pondicherry, their up-country Factories, and the native Government; they also gave assistance to French soldiers who had escaped from Chandernagore. Clive and the Calcutta Council were equally determined to interpret the capitulation in their own way, and sent Renault an order, through M. Bisdom, the Dutch Director, to repair to the British camp. Renault refused, and when Clive sent a party of sepoys for him and the other councillors, they appealed to M. Bisdom for the protection of the Dutch flag. M. Bisdom informed them somewhat curtly that they had come to him without his invitation, that he had no intention of taking any part in their quarrels, that he would not give them the protection of his flag to enable them to intrigue against the English, and, in short, requested them to leave Dutch territory. As it was evident that the British were prepared to use force, Renault and the Council gave in, and were taken to Calcutta, where, for some time, they were kept close prisoners. It was not till the Nawab had been overthrown at Plassey, that they were absolutely released, and even then it was only that they might prepare for their departure from Bengal. Renault surmises, quite correctly, that this severity was probably due to the fear that they would assist the Nawab.
The following incident during Renault's captivity shows how little could be expected from the Nawab towards a friend who was no longer able to be of use to him. After the capture of Chandernagore the English Council called on the Nawab to surrender the French up-country Factories to them. Siraj-ud-daula had not even yet learned the folly of his double policy. On the 4th of April he wrote to Clive:—