fleet under Admiral Pocock, with reinforcements from Bengal. During that night, the French kept up a hot fire upon the town, and the next day they were in full march towards Arcot. So hurried, indeed, was their departure that they left behind fifty-two pieces of cannon and a hundred and fifty barrels of gunpowder.
After an interval occupied in the necessary preparations, the English took the field, and followed the retreating army to Conjeveram, which they took by assault. The officers engaged in the attack of this place seem to have contended for pre-eminence in exposure to danger, and they suffered severely. A single discharge killed four and wounded five, Major Calliaud being among the latter. The place was defended by Murzafa Beg, a soldier of fortune, who had withdrawn himself from the British service during the siege of Madras. On his surrender, he was being led to Major Brereton, who commanded the English troops, when he was met by Mahomed Isoof, who, with one blow of his scimitar, nearly severed the prisoner's head from his body, exclaiming, "These are the terms to be kept with a traitor!."[1]
The course of events now requires a glance at the affairs of the Deccan, the present Soubahdar of which was Salabat Jung, who, on the death of Mazuffar Jung, had been placed on the musnud by the influence and assistance of the French, who were consequently in high favour at the court of Hyderabad. Monsieur Bussy, who commanded the French force in the Deccan, having been recalled by Lally to Pondicherry, a petty rajah, named Anunderauze, availed himself of his departure to attack Vizagapatam; and, having dispossessed the French garrison, he sent to offer his conquest to the English, and to request their aid to recover the provinces which the French had obtained from the Soubahdar of the Deccan. Clive accordingly despatched an expedition for that purpose, under Colonel Forde, consisting of five hundred
- ↑ Orme's History.
