Chapter 23: Plassey.
Scarcely had the soldiers taken off their packs, when the sound ofmartial music was heard. Charlie was speaking, at the time, to MajorCoote.
"There are the enemy, sure enough," the latter said. "That old rascal,Meer Jaffier, must have been deceiving us when he said that the nabobhad halted at Mankarah. I'm afraid he means to play us false."
"I expect," Charlie remarked, "that he does not know what he means,himself. These Asiatics are at any time ready to turn traitors, and tojoin the strongest. At present, Jaffier does not know what is thestronger; and I think it likely enough that he will take as littleshare as he can in the battle, tomorrow, till he sees which way it isgoing. Then, if we are getting the best of it, the rascal will joinus, for the sake of the advantages which he expects to gain. If theday is going against us, he will do his best to complete his master'svictory; and should proofs of his intended treachery ever come tolight, he will clear himself by saying that he intended to deceive usall along, and merely pretended to treat with us, in order to throw usoff our guard, and so deliver us into the hands of his master."
"Yes," Major Eyre Coote replied. "These Mohammedan chiefs are indeedcrafty and treacherous rascals. The whole history of India shows thatgratitude is a feeling altogether unknown to them; and that, whateverfavours a master may have lavished upon them, they are always ready tobetray him, if they think that by so doing they will better theirposition.
"Now I shall lie down, and try to get a few hours' sleep beforemorning. I am wet to the skin, but fortunately in these sultry nightsthat matters little."
"I must go my rounds," Charlie said, "and see that the sentries are onthe alert. If the men were not so tired, I should have said that thebest plan would have been to make a dash straight at the enemy's camp.It would take them quite unprepared, even if they know, as I daresaythey do, that we are close at hand; and they would lose all theadvantage of their artillery."
"Yes, if we had arrived an hour before sunset, so as to be able tolearn something of the nature of the ground, that would be our bestcourse," Major Coote agreed. "But, even if the troops had been fresh,a night attack on an unknown position is a hazardous undertaking.
"Good night. I must see Clive, and take his last orders."
At daybreak the English were astir, and the position of the enemybecame visible. He occupied strongly intrenched works, which the RajahDulab Ram had thrown up during his stay. The right of these worksrested on the river; and extended inland, at a right angle to it, forabout two hundred yards; and then swept round to the north, at anobtuse angle, for nearly three miles. At the angle was a redoubt,mounted with cannon. In advance of this was a mound, covered withjungle. Halfway between the intrenchments and the mango grove were twolarge tanks, near the river, surrounded by high mounds of earth. Thesetanks were about half a mile from the English position. On the riverbank, a little in advance of the grove, was a hunting box belonging tothe nabob, surrounded by a masonry wall. Clive took possession ofthis, immediately he heard the sound of the nabob's music, on hisarrival.
Soon after daylight, the nabob's troops moved out from theirintrenchments, and it was evident that he was aware of the position ofthe English. The French, with their four field guns, took up theirpost on the mound of the tank nearest to the grove, and about half amile distant from it; and in the narrow space between them and theriver two heavy guns, under a native officer, were placed.
Behind the French guns was the division of Mir Mudin Khan, the onefaithful general of the nabob. It consisted of five thousand horse,and seven thousand foot. Extending, in the arc of a circle, towardsthe village of Plassey, were the troops of the three traitor generalsRajah Dulab Ram, Yar Lutf Khan, and Meer Jaffier. Thus, the Englishposition was almost surrounded; and in advancing against the camp,they would have to expose themselves to an attack in rear by thetroops of the conspirators. These generals had, between them, nearlythirty-eight thousand troops.
From the roof of the hunting box, Clive watched the progress of theenemy's movements. He saw, at once, that the position which they hadtaken up was one which would entail the absolute destruction of hisforce, should he be defeated; and that this depended entirely upon thecourse taken by the conspirators. Against such a force as that opposedto him, if these remained faithful to their master, success couldhardly be hoped for.
However, it was now too late to retreat, and the only course was toshow a bold front. Clive accordingly moved his troops out, from themango trees, to a line with the hunting box. The Europeans were formedin the centre, with three field pieces on each side. The native troopswere on either flank. Two field guns, and the two howitzers, wereplaced a little in advance of the hunting box, facing the Frenchposition on the mound.
At eight o'clock in the morning, of the 23rd of June, a memorable dayin the annals of India, the preparations on both sides were complete;and Saint Frais opened the battle, by the discharge of one of his gunsat the English. At the signal, the whole of the artillery round thelong curve opened their fire. The ten little guns replied to thisoverwhelming discharge, and for half an hour continued to play on thedense masses of the enemy. But, however well they might be handled,they could do little against the fire of the fifty pieces of cannon,concentrated upon them.
Had these been all served by European artillerymen, the British forcewould have been speedily annihilated as they stood. The natives ofIndia, however, were extremely clumsy gunners. They fired but slowly,and had the feeblest idea of elevation. Consequently their balls, forthe most part, went far over the heads of the English; and the fourfield guns of Saint Frais did more execution than the fifty heavypieces of the nabob. At the end of half an hour, however, Clive hadlost thirty of his men, and determined to fall back to the mangogrove.
Leaving a party in the hunting box, and in the brick kilns in front ofit, in which the guns had been posted, to harass Saint Frais' batterywith their musketry fire, he withdrew the rest of his force into thegrove. Here they were in shelter, for it was surrounded by a high andthick bank. Behind this the men sat down, while parties set to work,piercing holes through the banks as embrasures for the guns.
The enemy, on the retreat of the British within the grove, advancedwith loud shouts of triumph; and, bringing their guns closer, againopened fire. The British had, by this time, pierced the holes fortheir field pieces; and these opened so vigorously that several of theenemy's cannon were disabled, numbers of their gunners killed, andsome ammunition waggons blown up. On the other hand the English, nowin perfect shelter, did not suffer at all, although the tops of thetrees were cut off, in all directions, by the storm of cannon ballswhich swept through them.
Although the English fire was producing considerable loss among theenemy, this was as nothing in comparison to his enormous numbers; and,at eleven o'clock, Clive summoned his principal officers around him;and it was agreed that, as Meer Jaffier and his associates, of whoseposition in the field they were ignorant, showed no signs of drawingoff, or of treachery to their master, it was impossible to risk anattack upon the front; since they would, as they pressed forward, beenveloped by the forces in the rear. It was determined, therefore,that unless any unexpected circumstance occurred, they should holdtheir present position till nightfall; and should, at midnight, attackthe enemy's camp.
A quarter of an hour later, a tremendous tropical shower commenced,and for an hour the rain came down in torrents. Gradually the enemy'sfire slackened. The English had tarpaulins to cover their ammunition,which, therefore, suffered no injury. The natives had no suchcoverings, and their powder was soon completely wetted, by the delugeof rain. Mir Mudin Khan, knowing that his own guns had been rendereduseless, believed that those of the English were in a similarcondition; and, leading out his cavalry, made a splendid charge downupon the grove.
The English were in readiness. As the cavalry swept up, a flash offire ran from a thousand muskets, from the top of the embankments;while each of the field guns sent its load of grapeshot, through theembrasures, into
the throng of horsemen.
The effect was decisive. The cavalry recoiled before the terriblefire, and rode back, with their brave leader mortally wounded. Thisblow was fatal to the fortunes of Suraja Dowlah. When the news of thedeath of his brave and faithful general reached him, he was struckwith terror. He had long suspected Meer Jaffier of treachery, but hehad now no one else to rely upon. Sending for that general he remindedhim, in touching terms, of the benefits which he had received at thehands of his father; and conjured him to be faithful to him. Throwinghis turban upon the ground, he said:
"Jaffier, you must defend that turban."
Jaffier responded with assurances of his loyalty and sincerity, andpromised to defend his sovereign with his life. Then, riding off, heat once despatched a messenger to Clive, informing him of what hadhappened, and urging him to attack at once.
As long as Mir Mudin Khan lived, it is probable that Meer Jaffier wasstill undecided as to the part he should play. While that generallived it was possible, even probable, that the English would bedefeated, even should the traitors take no part against them. Hisdeath, however, left the whole management of affairs in the hands ofthe three conspirators, and their course was now plain.
Scarcely had Meer Jaffier left the nabob, than the unhappy young man,who was still under twenty years old, turned to Rajah Dulab Ram forcounsel and advice. The traitor gave him counsel that led to hisdestruction. He told him that the English could not be attacked intheir position; that his troops, exposed to the fire of their guns,were suffering heavily and losing heart; and he advised him, at once,to issue orders for them to fall back within their intrenchments. Healso advised him to leave the field himself, and to retire toMoorshedabad, leaving it to his generals to annihilate the English,should they venture to attack them.
Suraja Dowlah, at no time capable of thinking for himself, and nowbewildered by the death of the general he knew to be faithful to him,and by his doubts as to the fidelity of the others, fell into thesnare. He at once issued orders for the troops to retire within theirintrenchments; and then, mounting a swift camel, and accompanied bytwo thousand horsemen, he left the field, and rode off toMoorshedabad.
The movement of retirement at once commenced. The three traitorgenerals drew off their troops, and those of Mir Mudin Khan alsoobeyed orders, and fell back. Saint Frais, however, refused to obey.He saw the ruin which would follow upon the retreat, and he pluckilycontinued his fire.
Clive, after the council had decided that nothing should be done tillnightfall, had lain down in the hunting box to snatch a little repose,his thoughts having kept him awake all night. Major Kilpatrick, seeingthe retirement of the enemy; and that the French artillerymenremained, unsupported, on the mound; at once advanced, with twohundred and fifty Europeans, and two guns, against it; sending word toClive what he was doing. Clive, angry that any officer should havetaken so important a step, without consulting him, at once ran afterthe detachment, and severely reprimanded Major Kilpatrick, for movingfrom the grove without orders. Immediately, however, that hecomprehended the whole position, he recognized the wisdom of thecourse Kilpatrick had taken, and sent him back to the grove, to orderthe whole force to advance.
Saint Frais, seeing that he was entirely unsupported, fired a lastshot; and then, limbering up, fell back in perfect order to theredoubt at the corner of the intrenchment, where he again posted hisfield pieces, in readiness for action.
Looking round the field, Clive saw that two of the divisions whichformed the arc of the circle were marching back towards theintrenchments; but that the third, that on the left of their line, hadwheeled round and was marching towards the rear of the grove. Nothaving received the letter which Meer Jaffier had written to him, hesupposed that this movement indicated an intention to attack hisbaggage; and he therefore detached some European troops, with a fieldgun, to check the advance. Upon the gun opening fire, the enemy'sdivision halted. It ceased its advance, but continued apart from therest of the enemy. In the meantime, Clive had arrived upon the moundwhich Saint Frais had left; and, planting his guns there, opened fireupon the enemy within their intrenchments.
The Indian soldiers and inferior officers, knowing nothing of thetreachery of their chiefs, were indignant at being thus cannonaded intheir intrenchments by a foe so inferior in strength; and horse, foot,and artillery poured out again from the intrenchments, and attackedthe British.
The battle now raged in earnest. Clive posted half his infantry andartillery on the mound of the tank nearest to the enemy'sintrenchments, and the greater part of the rest on rising ground, twohundred yards to the left of it; while he placed a hundred and sixtypicked shots, Europeans and natives, behind the tank close to theintrenchments, with orders to keep up a continuous musketry fire uponthe enemy, as they sallied out.
The enemy fought bravely. Saint Frais worked his guns unflinchingly atthe redoubt, the infantry poured in volley after volley, the cavalrymade desperate charges right up to the British lines. But they had noleader, and were fighting against men well commanded, and confident inthemselves. Clive observed that the division on the enemy's extremeleft remained inactive, and detached from the army; and it, for thefirst time, struck him that this was the division of Meer Jaffier.Relieved for the safety of his baggage, and from the attack which hadhitherto threatened in his rear, he at once determined to carry thehill in advance of Saint Frais's battery, and the redoubt occupied bythe French leader.
Strong columns were sent against each position. The hill was carriedwithout opposition, and then so heavy and searching a fire was pouredinto the intrenched camp that the enemy began to fall back, in utterconfusion. Saint Frais, finding himself isolated and alone in theredoubt, as he had before been on the mound, was forced to retire.
At five o'clock the battle was over, and the camp of the Nabob ofBengal in the possession of the English. The British loss wastrifling. Seven European and sixteen native soldiers were killed,thirteen Europeans and thirty-six natives wounded. It was one of thedecisive battles of the world, for the fate of India hung in thebalance. Had Clive been defeated, and his force annihilated, as itmust have been if beaten, the English would have been swept out ofBengal. The loss of that presidency would have had a decided effect onthe struggle in Madras, where the British were, with the greatestdifficulty, maintaining themselves against the French.
Henceforth Bengal, the richest province in India, belonged to theEnglish; for although, for a time, they were content to recognize MeerJaffier and his successors as its nominal rulers, these were butpuppets in their hands, and they were virtual masters of the province.
After the battle, Meer Jaffier arrived. Conscious of his owndouble-dealing, he by no means felt sure of the reception he shouldmeet with. It suited Clive, however, to ignore the doubtful part hehad played, and he was saluted as Nabob of Bengal.
It would have been far better for him, had he remained one of thegreat chiefs of Bengal. The enormous debt, with which Clive and hiscolleagues had saddled him, crushed him. The sum was so vast that itwas only by imposing the most onerous taxation upon his people that hewas enabled to pay it, and the discontent excited proved hisdestruction.
Omichund had no greater reason for satisfaction, at the part which hehad played in the ruin of his country. The fact that he had beendeceived, by the forged treaty, was abruptly and brutally communicatedto him; and the blow broke his heart. He shortly afterwards becameinsane, and died before eighteen months were over.
Suraja Dowlah fled to Moorshedabad, where the remnants of his armyfollowed him. At first, the nabob endeavoured to secure their fidelityby issuing a considerable amount of pay. Then, overpowered by hisfears of treachery, he sent off the ladies of the zenana, and all histreasures, on elephants; and, a few hours afterwards, he himself,accompanied by his favourite wife, and a slave with a casket of hismost valuable jewels, fled in disguise.
A boat had been prepared, and lay in readiness at the wharf of thepalace. Rowing day and night against the stream, the boat reachedRajmahal, ninety mile
s distant, on the night of the fourth dayfollowing his flight. Here the rowers were so knocked up, by theirexertions, that it was impossible to proceed further; and they tookrefuge in a deserted hut, by the bank.
The following morning, however, they were seen by a fakir, whose earsthe young tyrant had had cut off, thirteen months previously; and thisman, recognizing the nabob even in his disguise, at once took the newsto Meer Jaffier's brother, who happened to reside in the town. Thelatter immediately sent a party of his retainers, who captured thenabob without difficulty. He was again placed in the boat, and takenback to Moorshedabad, where he was led into the presence of MeerJaffier.
The wretched young man implored the mercy of his triumphant successor,the man who owed station and rank and wealth to his grandfather; andwho had, nevertheless, betrayed him to the English. His entreaties sofar moved Meer Jaffier that he was irresolute, for a time, as to thecourse he should pursue. His son, however, Mirav, a youth of about thesame age as the deposed nabob, insisted that it was folly to showmercy; as Meer Jaffier would never be safe, so long as Suraja Dowlahremained alive; and his father, at last, assigned the captive to hiskeeping, knowing well what the result would be.
In the night, Suraja Dowlah was murdered. His mangled remains were, inthe morning, placed on an elephant, and exposed to the gaze of thepopulace and soldiery.
Suraja Dowlah was undoubtedly a profligate and rapacious tyrant. Inthe course of a few months, he alienated his people, and offended agreat number of his most powerful chiefs. The war which he undertookagainst the English, although at the moment unprovoked, must still beregarded as a patriotic one; and, had he not soiled his victory by themassacre of the prisoners, which he first permitted and then approved,the English would have had no just cause of complaint against him.
From the day of the arrival of Clive at Calcutta, he was doomed. It iscertain that the nabob would not have remained faithful to hisengagements, when the danger which wrung the concessions from him hadpassed. Nevertheless, the whole of the circumstances which followedthe signature of the treaty, the manner in which the unhappy youth wasalternately cajoled and bullied to his ruin, the loathsome treacheryin which those around him engaged, with the connivance of the English;and, lastly, the murder in cold blood, which Meer Jaffier, ourcreature, was allowed to perpetrate; rendered the whole transactionone of the blackest in the annals of English history.