Pondichery. There he dared not attack him, as the territory was French, and as such was secured against attack by treaty. The French were equally bound to inaction by the fact that Dupleix was momentarily expecting the arrival of 700 trained troops under the young and brilliant De la Touche, an arrival which would seemingly place all the possibilities within his grasp. Lawrence knew this, and anxious to strike a blow before the fresh troops should anive, yet debarred from attacking De Kerjean where he was, used all his efforts to entice his enemy beyond the border-line. With this object he fell back to a place called Báhur, two miles from Fort St. David. De Kerjean, young, ambitious, knowing that any day he might be superseded by De la Touche, followed up his retreating foe, and on the morning of September 6 attacked him. The action was the most fiercely contested of the whole war. The Europeans on both sides fought splendidly. The result was decided by the falling back at a critical moment of the French sipáhis, stationed in the centre of the line. Lawrence pushed on and achieved a complete victory. The English lost eighty-three officers and men killed and wounded. On the French side, De Kerjean himself, fifteen officers, and about 100 men were taken prisoners. Their loss in killed and wounded was never ascertained[1].
- ↑ Lawrence, and, following Lawrence, Orme, state that, when prisoner, De Kerjean declared that he was forced into action by the repeated orders of Dupleix. There is no proof of this beyond the word of a man anxious to justify himself at the expense of another. On
