CHAPTER XIX
_PLASSY_
And now it befalls to me to relate what I saw of that famous day whichchanged the relations between the English and Moors throughout thewhole empire of Indostan. And I think that never before nor since wassuch a singular engagement fought, and so little really done to effectso tremendous a result.
After I had communicated to Colonel Clive what had passed between MeerJaffier and myself at our secret interview, he believed less than everin the Meer's promises of assistance.
"I do not think the man means to betray me, but like all the Bengalesehe is a coward, and dares not carry out his promises when the momentcomes."
Such was his judgment, in which I was obliged to agree; though Iconfess I had a liking for Meer Jaffier, and felt much pity for him inhis subsequent misfortunes.
It was one o'clock, an hour after midnight, when our little army ofthree thousand men arrived and took up their quarters in the grove ofPlassy. Of these, two thousand were Sepoys, the remainder beingEuropean troops, with some sailors from the fleet and about onehundred Topasses: we had also eight field-pieces and two howitzers.The grove in which we encamped was enclosed in a bank and ditch,within which were mango trees, very regularly planted in straightrows, the whole place being about half a mile in length, and less thana quarter in breadth. It stood near the edge of the river, whichdefended it from approach on the left, where there was a small houseor hunting lodge, which Colonel Clive chose as his headquarters.Facing the grove to the north was the entrenched camp where theNabob's army had lain ever since their retreat from Calcutta. Thetroops had been partly withdrawn a few days before, but they were nowreturned; and we heard their drums and cymbals beating all night long.
Colonel Clive, who had restored me to my former position as hissecretary, and kept me near him, bade me lie down and sleep in thelodge. But though I lay down, I was too excited to do more than dozeoff for a minute at a time, and every time that I opened my eyes I sawthe Colonel either walking to and fro, as if impatient for the day tobreak, or sitting at a table with maps spread out before him, studyingthem by the light of a torch. Sometimes he went out of the lodge for afew minutes to see that all was quiet, but soon returned and resumedhis meditations.
As soon as it was light enough to see, I got up, unable to lie stillany longer, and joined Mr. Clive.
"Ah, Ford, so you are awake, eh!" he observed smiling. "You don't lookas though you had slept very soundly. Let us get on to the roof, andperhaps we may see what those fellows are about."
We mounted together by a narrow stair leading on to a flat roof, andlooked about us. On the left the mist was slowly rising from theriver, on the right the foliage of the trees hid our own troops fromview. But in front of us to the north we beheld spread out a scene ofsuch magnificence that I confess I trembled, and even Colonel Cliveuttered an exclamation of surprise.
The Nabob's army lay in their entrenched camp, one angle of therampart, that nearest to us, being strengthened with a small redoubtarmed with cannon. Behind and away almost as far as we could see,stretched the tents and lines of armed men, the whole just beginningto stir with the first movements of the day. In the midst rose asplendid pavilion, adorned by flags, before the door of which stood atrain of horses and attendants, while lesser tents were pitched allround it, each one displaying the ensign of some great officer. Crowdsof men could be seen pushing to and fro, catching up their weapons andfalling into some sort of military order, while others brought uphorses and elephants, the caparisons of which shone gaily with silk ofmany colours. So great was the throng, and so confused were theirmotions, that I could not even guess their numbers, but Colonel Clive,glancing over them with the eye of a veteran, declared that there mustbe at least fifty thousand men, of whom upwards of fifteen thousandwere cavalry. Their guns I counted myself up to forty-three, and theyhad others which they left in the camp.
As we stood and watched, this great host began to slowly pour out fromdifferent openings in the rampart and advance on the plain, forming asort of bow round the front and right flank of our position. Theriver, as I have said, protected the left, and they made no attempt toclose round the rear.
"I wonder which is Meer Jaffier's division?" muttered Colonel Cliveanxiously, as the array extended itself. The infantry remained for themost part between the camp and our front, while the masses of cavalryspread away to our right, forming their left wing. The army was not inone line, but seemed to advance in a number of detached bodies, theintervals between them being filled up with the guns.
This artillery was a truly formidable spectacle. Our own few guns weremerely six-pounders, nor had we the means of transport for largerpieces. But many of the Nabob's cannon were of immense calibre, 24 andeven 32-pounders, more suitable for siege guns than to be brought intoaction. They were mounted on high wooden stages, which bore notmerely the cannon but the artillerymen and ammunition as well, andeach of these carriages was drawn along by as many as eighty or ahundred huge white oxen, of the famous Purneah breed. Moreover, incase the oxen should not prove sufficient, an elephant walked behindeach of these moving platforms, and butted it with his forehead frombehind whenever it stuck from any difficulty of the ground.
Between the grove where we lay and the enemy's camp there were acouple of tanks, such as the Indians build to contain rain water.These tanks, being protected by banks of earth, served the purpose ofredoubts, and we saw a small body of men, about forty or fifty,advance to the tank nearest us, dragging two light guns, with whichthey at once began playing on the grove.
"Those are white men!" exclaimed Colonel Clive, who had been watchingthis movement. "They must be Frenchmen sent from Brassy--unless theyare some of those that escaped from Chander Nugger."
While he was speaking the fire from the tank was taken up by the restof the Nabob's artillery, and a roar arose from the whole face of theadvancing army. Colonel Clive watched the result closely for a fewminutes.
"They are doing very little harm," he observed. "They fire too high.Most of the balls are passing over the heads of our men. But it willnot do for us to stay in the shelter of the grove; they may think weare afraid of them."
He hurried down to the ground, bidding me keep near him, and went towhere our men were waiting, just within the ditch which enclosed thegrove. One Sepoy had been killed by the discharge from the tank, andthree or four wounded, but otherwise we had not suffered.
The Colonel quickly made his dispositions, and the little forcemarched boldly out from its shelter and faced the enemy. At this thewhole Moorish army halted, still out of point-blank range, andcontented themselves with continuing their artillery fire, which wereturned as best we could with our few guns. Colonel Clive passed toand fro along the line several times, noting everything that happened,and anxiously watching for some symptom of the promised desertion byMeer Jaffier. But nothing happened, the Moor's infantry remainedsteady in our front, and the dark masses of cavalry continued to hangthreateningly on our flank.
"I have brought my men out to give Meer Jaffier his chance," saidColonel Clive to me in a low tone, "but if he is afraid to move, weare done. It is impossible to order an advance in face of that army."
He walked down the line once again, and counted our casualties. Bythis time we had lost ten Europeans, and about twice as many Sepoys.
"That is enough," the Colonel exclaimed sharply. "It is useless toexpose the men for nothing. Retire into the grove again."
This order was executed, and the enemy, appearing to gather couragefrom our retreat, advanced their artillery nearer, and quickened theirfire. However, their aim continued very bad, most of the shot merelystruck the branches of the trees, and the men were ordered to lie downfor the sake of greater safety. I was pleased to observe that all,even the Sepoys and Topasses, displayed the utmost coolness andconfidence. Several powder explosions happened about this time indifferent places in the enemy's ranks, and this served to increase thecontempt of our own men for the Nabob's forces.
About e
leven o'clock Colonel Clive called some of the officerstogether, and communicated his plans to them.
"It is quite clear that the Nabob is afraid to attack us at closequarters," he said, "or he would have ordered a further advance beforethis. Still I do not consider we are justified in quitting our shelterfor the present, in the absence of any demonstration from MeerJaffier. It will be better to let the cannonade go on for the rest ofthe day, and then try a night attack on their camp."
Most of the officers concurred in this opinion. As the Colonel and Iwere walking back to the lodge he turned to me suddenly, and asked mewhat I thought.
"Why, sir, to be plain with you, I think the only men we have toregard are those forty Frenchmen in the tank," I answered. "As far asthe rest are concerned, I very much doubt if they would stand fiveminutes against a charge."
The Colonel nodded.
"I shouldn't be surprised if you were right. But remember, Ford, thatthose nine hundred men are the only European troops in Bengal, and ifI lose even two hundred of them this will be an expensive victory forme. What I want is to hold on till Surajah Dowlah's own troops deserthim, and then I may win everything without loss of life."
I was much impressed by this glimpse into Mr. Clive's mind, whichshowed him as something very different from the reckless, hot-headedsoldier some of his enemies have called him.
Just at this time a shower of rain fell, and soon after the fire ofthe enemy sensibly slackened, some of their powder evidently havingbeen spoiled. Towards two o'clock a stranger thing took place, for thefiring ceased altogether, and the Moors were perceived yoking theirwhite oxen to the gun-stages again; and immediately after the wholearmy commenced to fall back slowly and re-enter the camp.
I was standing by myself outside the door of the lodge when thissingular movement commenced, and I at once stepped inside to informColonel Clive. To my astonishment I found him asleep. The exhaustingwork of the last few days, followed by the total absence of rest onthe previous night, had proved too much for him. He had fallen on toa chair, and dropped asleep unawares.
While I was hesitating whether to awaken him I heard some oneapproaching without. I went out softly, and found a sergeant of MajorKilpatrick's company, with a message for the Colonel.
"I will take your message, sergeant," I said, not wishing him to knowof Mr. Clive's slumber.
"Faith, then, sir, it's just this," said the fellow, who was anIrishman, "that the enemy's beat, and runnin' away entirely, and MajorKilpathrick's just after starting to take the tank from thosemurderin' Frenchies, so as to annoy the Nabob's retreat."
I turned red at this insolent message, which did not even requestColonel Clive's permission for the movement. Dismissing the sergeant,I darted in and woke up my commander.
The Colonel was broad awake in an instant. When he heard what hadhappened he compressed his lips, without making any remark, and ranout of the lodge, and across the ground to where Kilpatrick wasleading his company towards the tank.
"Halt!" shouted Colonel Clive, as he approached.
The Major stopped, and looked confused.
"I thought, sir, as every moment was precious----" he began, when Mr.Clive sharply cut him short.
"I will receive your apologies this evening, sir. At present my ordersto you are to return and order up the whole force to support thismovement which you have so rashly begun."
He waited till the discomfited officer had retired, and then turningto me, he added with a touch of glee--
"Now, Ford, you and I will take the tank!"
The word was given to double, and we advanced at a run, whereupon theFrenchmen, after one discharge, evacuated their position, and retiredupon the camp.
The rest of the English force now marched out from the grove, andadvanced in line, pursuing the retreating enemy. But there was onepart of the Nabob's army which did not join in the movement of therest. A large division of cavalry, one of those which had formed thethreatening left wing, drew off from the rest and advanced towards ourright rear.
Colonel Clive watched their movements with suspicion.
"Are these fellows trying to take our baggage?" he murmured. "CaptainGrant, take three platoons and a field-piece, and see if you can fightoff those horse."
The order as given was obeyed, the slight demonstration provedsufficient, and the mysterious division drew away again out of range.In the meantime our main body advanced steadily, and kept up a briskfire on the Nabob's camp with our artillery. On this some of theretiring troops showed a disposition to come out again and renew theattack, encouraged by the example of the Frenchmen, who had gotpossession of the redoubt in the angle of the rampart, and were plyingus well with their guns. Seeing this disposition on the part of theenemy, Colonel Clive ordered some shot to be thrown among theircumbrous artillery trains. This was done with such effect that,numbers of the oxen being killed, the trains were thrown intoconfusion. At the same time some of the Moorish horse made a fewineffectual offers to charge, but were easily driven off, without evercoming to close quarters.
Whatever cause had prompted the strange retreat of the enemy, it wasevident that the same cause was now operating to take all heart out oftheir defence. The only thing that gave us pause was the attitude ofthe Frenchmen in the redoubt, whose spirit communicated itself to thetroops in their immediate neighbourhood. While things were in thisdoubtful posture, I happened to glance round to see what had become ofthe cavalry division repulsed by Captain Grant. To my surprise I sawthem retiring slowly in an opposite direction to the Nabob's camp.
Instantly I grasped the situation.
"Colonel," I whispered hurriedly, "don't you see that that must beMeer Jaffier's division!"
Mr. Clive turned and stared for a moment in the direction I pointedin.
"You are right," he responded. "Meer Jaffier, of course! Well, sincehe has put off his assistance so long, he shall see how little weneeded it!"
A thrill of fresh energy seemed to sweep through him as he beganissuing his orders for the final charge. Two columns were told off,one to clear a small eminence to the right, the other to attack theFrench in their redoubt, while the main body was directed to follow upin a grand attack on the whole camp. By my special request I wasallowed to join the column marching against the Frenchmen. We made adash forward--once, twice, thrice the Frenchmen fired at us as we cameon, then we saw them drop their linstocks and run, and in another fiveminutes it was all over. The entire English force was over theramparts together, the army which had marched out so gallantly againstus that morning was suddenly become a mere herd, a wretched mob offugitives crushing one another in their eagerness to escape from us,and we picked our way amid the plunder of Surajah Dowlah's richpavilion, victors of Plassy, masters and law-givers of Indostan!