To carry it into effect, the co-operation of Admiral Watson, with the squadron under his command, was readily granted; but, before it could be put to sea, two months and upwards were consumed in wretched disputes, arising from the huckstering principles of pitiful traders, rather than the manly feelings that should have inspired all Englishmen at so critical a moment.
The troops destined for the expedition amounted to nine hundred Europeans and fifteen hundred Sepoys, which, owing to the illness of Colonel Lawrence, were placed under the command of Clive. The powers of the former Governor and Council of Calcutta in civil and commercial affairs were preserved to them; but in all military matters Clive was to be entirely independent – an arrangement that was strongly objected to by Mr. Manningham, a member of the Council of Calcutta, who boasted the unenviable distinction of having been foremost in the disgraceful flight from that place, and who had been deputed by his brother-runaways on a mission to Madras. The squadron under Admiral Watson consisted of five ships, in which, and in five transports, the forces were embarked; but when on the point of departure, they were deprived of the Royal Artillery, and of the King's guns and stores, by the disgraceful refusal of Colonel Aldercron to suffer them to proceed unless he, forsooth had the command!
But the star of Clive prevailed. British honour was avenged, and our empire in the East saved by him a second time at this critical period, in spite of the contemptible obstacles of petty men. On the 16th of October, 1756, the expedition sailed from Madras; and on the 20th of December all the ships except two, after encountering some disasters, had arrived at Fulta, a village on the Hooghly, at some distance from Calcutta, where the British authorities had re-assembled when beginning to recover from the effects of their panic.
The absence of the two missing ships seriously diminished the efficiency of the force. One of them, the
