CHAP. might probably have pushed forward to that city XL. INDIA. immediately after his triumph at Wandewash; but knowing how large was still the force of the enemy, he first applied himself to besiege and reduce the outposts of their dominion. Arcot, Trincomalee, Devi-Cottah, Cuddalore, and several other places fell successively into his hands. During this time the French were making strenuous efforts to obtain some native reinforcements. With that view they opened a secret negotiation with Hyder Ali, afterwards the founder of the great kingdom of Mysore, and at this period the General in Chief of the Mysorean army. It was stipulated that Hyder Ali should send, as auxiliaries, a body of 3,000 horse and 5,000 foot, and receive in return from the French the fort of Thiagur, one of their last remaining strong-holds in the Carnatic. The first division of the Mysoreans marched accordingly, and a detachment, chiefly of Sepoys, having been sent out by Coote to repel them, was itself totally routed. Nevertheless, the result of this treaty proved of little advantage to the French. Only a few weeks after the auxiliaries had arrived intelligence reached them of a revolution in Mysore, threatening danger to their chief, upon which, without any notice to Lally, they set off by night, and hastened home. The net was now closing round Pondicherry itself. Through the boundary-hedge of thorns and prickly plants, which, as in many other Indian XL. INDIA. towns, encompassed its outer defences, the inhabi- CHAP. tants could discern the hostile army encamped, and ready for the siege. The departure of D'Aché's squadron had left the English undisputed masters of the sea, and scarce any further supplies, either by land or water, could reach the beleaguered city. The French valour,-the rainy season,-and a most violent storm in the roads,-interposed, however, considerable obstacles in the way of Coote. Nor was Discord, which raged so fiercely within the walls of Pondicherry, altogether absent from the English camp. In consequence of orders from home, given in ignorance of the late events, a dispute as to the chief command arose between Colonel Coote and Colonel Monson. At one period Coote had already relinquished his post, and was preparing to embark for Bengal; but Monson receiving a severe wound, and becoming for a time disabled, the leadership happily reverted to the victor of Wandewash. In the night between the 8th and 9th of December four English batteries opened against the walls of Pondicherry. The besieged were firm and resolute in their defence, fighting every foot of ground, and making more than one successful sally. They had also, to spare their provisions, put themselves upon half rations, and sent forth from the town the remaining native inhabitants; a wretched multitude, which remained famishing and helpless between the gates and the batteries, and CHAP. was debarred access at either, until, after some INDIA. XL. days, the humanity of the English allowed them to pass. Notwithstanding such strong measures, it was found, before the middle of January, that there only remained sufficient provisions for two days. In this extremity Lally and his Council sent deputies to capitulate, and failing to obtain more favourable terms, were compelled to surrender at discretion. Accordingly, on the 16th of January 1761, the English marched into the place. Great civilities passed between the chiefs; Coote dining that day at Lally's table; but Lally and his French, still amounting to above 2,000, remained prisoners of war. "All," says a contemporary, "wore the face "of famine, fatigue, or disease. The grenadiers "of Lorraine and Lally, once the ablest-bodied "men in the army, appeared the most impaired, "having constantly put themselves forward to "every service; and it was recollected that from "their first landing, throughout all the services of "the field, and all the distresses of the blockade, "not a man of them had ever deserted to the English colours.” * Almost immediately after the surrender a dispute arose among the victors for the possession of the place. Coote and his officers claimed it for the King; Mr. Pigot and the other civilians from Madras claimed it for the Company. The quarrel grew high, until at length Mr. Pigot declared, that Orme's Hist., vol. ii. p. 722. XL. INDIA. unless his pretensions were admitted he should re- CHAP. fuse to supply funds for the subsistence of the troops. This threat barred all further argument.In return for the destruction of Fort St. David, and in pursuance of orders from home, Mr. Pigot took measures for razing to the ground the fortifications of Pondicherry, nay, even all the buildings that stood within them. Thus ended the French power in India. For although Pondicherry was restored to them by the peace of 1763, and although the stipulation in that peace against their raising fortresses or maintaining troops applied only to Bengal, yet even in the Carnatic they could never again attain their former influence nor recover their lost ground; and the extinction of their East India Company speedily ensued. This result, however mortifying to French ambition, has been acknowledged by French writers as just retribution on that Company, and on the Government of Louis the Fifteenth, for their cruel oppression of almost every great commander who had served them faithfully in India. The closing scenes of La Bourdonnais and of Dupleix have been already described; there remains to tell the still more tragic fate of Lally. On arriving a prisoner in England, and hearing of the charges * "Oh combien cette Compagnie des Indes Française avait "merité sa chute!"-Biograph. Univ. art. DUPLEIX. See also Sismondi, Hist. des Français, vol. xxix. p. 303. INDIA. CHAP. brought against him in France, he wrote to Pitt, XL. soliciting that he might return on his parole, and confront his accusers, and with this request the British Minister complied. But no sooner was Lally at Paris than he was thrown into the Bastille, where he remained fifteen months without even a preliminary examination. When at length his trial did come on before the Parliament of Paris, it was pressed with the utmost acrimony, both by the Crown and East India Company; and a legal quibble on the term "High Treason" enabled his judges to sentence him to death. When informed of their decision, "Is this," he passionately cried, the "reward of forty-five years' service!”—and snatching up a compass with which he had been drawing maps during his imprisonment, he struck it at his breast. His hand, however, was held back by some person near him; and that same afternoon, the 9th of May 1766, he was dragged along to public execution in a dung-cart, with a gag between his lips, and beheaded on the Place de Grève. Such was the end of a veteran, who had fought and bled for his adopted country, seldom, indeed, with prudence and discretion, but always with courage and honour. See his letter in the Chatham Correspondence, vol. ii. p. 144. |
