than as a general, and has this great praise, that he never shrank from incurring responsibility. Had he at this moment left the helm, the ship would have speedily foundered; the French would have triumphed at Madras, or the Dutch might have driven us from Bengal. But Clive remained; and, taking advantage of the opening presented by the Rajah of Chicacole and Rajahmundri, who solicited the aid of the English against the French, he fitted out an expedition under Colonel Forde, and sent it to Vizagapatam to cause a diversion there, and thus indirectly to aid Madras, which was then hard pressed by Monsieur Lally.

The Marquis de Conflans, who commanded the French force in the Northern Sircars, had under him a European battalion of 500 men, with thirty or forty guns, 500 native cavalry, and 6,000 sepoys. On the other hand, Colonel Forde could only muster 470 Europeans, 1,900 sepoys, and six field-pieces; his ally, the Rajah, had certainly 5,000 foot and 500 horse, but they were considered a miserable rabble. The sepoys under Forde were better trained, and probably better equipped, than the French native troops; and they advanced with all the prestige of victorious troops, as some of them had assisted to recover or conquer Bengal. Forde landed on the 20th October; and, after some delay and much difficulty, having made his arrangements with the Rajah, he marched against the enemy on the 8th December. We extract the whole of Captain Broome's animated description of the Battle of "Condore:"

Here Colonel Forde took up his position again, determined to be guided by the movement of the enemy. Condore was as far from the French camp as the old position at Chambole, but with more advantageous ground to advance upon, and with a village half way, which would serve for an advanced post. M. Conflans, imagining that the possession of this village was the object of the English movement, pushed forward with his whole force to anticipate this supposed intention; and he attributed Colonel Forde's inaction, in letting him seize this post without an effort, to a consciousness of inferiority. Fearing that the English might now attempt to regain their old position, he determined upon an immediate attack, and, hastily forming his troops in line, advanced towards Condore. His European battalion was in the centre, as usual, with thirteen field-pieces divided on their flanks; immediately to the left of the battalion were the 500 cavalry, and, on either wing, 3,000 sipahis, supported by five or six heavy pieces of cannon.

Colonel Forde drew up his force in like manner, with the European battalion in the centre, and the six field-pieces divided, three on each flank; to the right was the 1st battalion of sipahis commanded by Captain Knox, with half of the Madras sipahis; to the left, the 2nd battalion of sipahis commanded by Captain-Lieutenant MacLean, with the remainder of the Madras sipahis; extended on either flank were such of the Rajah's troops as possessed fire-arms, and the remainder of the rabble in the rear. Cap

tain Bristol, with his party and four field-pieces, took post with the three guns to the left of the European battalion.

Both sides now advanced-the English steadily and deliberately, without firing a shot-the French moving more rapidly, but keeping up a hot can nonade from their artillery, as they approached. When they came near, the impetuosity of the French infantry carried them in advance of their guns; upon which the English halted to receive them, and both sides commenced a fire of musketry, which lasted for some minutes.

It so happened that, when the English line halted, the European battalion was immediately in rear of a field of Indian corn, which grew so high as to intercept them from the view of the enemy; but the sipahis on either flank were fully exposed. Colonel Forde, probably with a view of leading the enemy into the very error into which they fell, ordered the sipahi battalions to furl their small colours, of which one was allowed to each company, and to lay them on the ground. This circumstance, and the men being dressed in scarlet uniform, resembling that of the Europeans, for which the French were unprepared-the English sipahis on the Madras side wearing the native dress-led them to suppose that the Europeans were divided on the flanks; the French battalion, as their line advanced, instead of moving directly forward, obliqued to the left, to engage the 2nd native battalion, which they thus mistook for Europeans. When they arrived within the distance of 200 yards, they halted, dressed their ranks, and commenced firing by platoons. Colonel Forde, who perceived their error, rode up to the 2nd battalion to encourage the men to stand :-but the latter, observing the enemy's line of sipahis outflanking them to the left and gaining their rear, and being dismayed at finding themselves opposed to Europeans, began to fire in a hurried and irregular manner, and finally to give ground, retreating in the direction of the village of Chambole. Flushed with this success, the French battalion advanced rapidly, though in a disorderly manner, to follow up their advantage. Colonel Forde, who anticipated what would occur, had hastened to the European battalion, and forming them in line to the left, upon the left Company, commanded by Captain Adnet, advanced and took the French in flank, just as they were clearing the field of Indian corn. As the several companies came up into their new alignment, they poured in a deadly fire of musketry upon the enemy, which did great execution. Half the French grenadiers went down at the first volley from Captain Adnet's company; and, being taken completely by surprise and thus roughly handled, the whole French battalion went about in great confusion, and hastened to regain the support of their field-pieces, which they had left nearly half a mile behind....... The French rallied at their guns, thirteen in number, which were scattered about the plain in details, as they had been left when the advance commenced; these guns opened their fire on the English, as soon as their own troops were clear, and killed and wounded several men. Captain Adnet fell mortally wounded at the head of the leading company; but the men were not to be denied: the enemy's fire only induced them to hasten to the charge; and, forming line, they rushed on with the bayonet, drove the enemy from their guns, and once more put the French battalion to flight.

The day, if not completely gained, was at least secured from reverse by the possession of the enemy's field artillery and the flight of their European battalion; but much yet depended on the conduct of the 1st native battalion. When the European battalion advanced, its field-pieces had been left with this corps. Encouraged by this support, and the spirit of their gallant commander, Captain Knox, the sipahis, though opposed by nearly four times their own number, stood their ground nobly; taking

advantage of the cover of some embankments in their front, they kept up a warm fire upon the enemy,-to which the latter replied with great spirit. until they saw their own European battalion driven from the guns, and in disorderly flight, when they also began to retreat. Captain Knox now advanced with his battalion and the six field-pieces, to join the Europeans. The enemy's right wing of sipahis and the cavalry had retreated, as soon as they saw the French battalion defeated, without making any attempt to follow up the 2nd native battalion-which, having rallied, also joined the advance. Colonel Forde now determined to push on, and complete his success by attacking the enemy's camp, to which they had all retreated; and he sent to the Rajah to beg that he would advance, particularly with his cavalry, which would have been of the greatest use in following up the broken troops of the enemy;-but the Rajah and all his force were cowering in the hollow of a large tank during the action, and could not be induced to stir.

Colonel Forde, having made his arrangements, now advanced with his own troops; but, the ground being very bad, the guns, drawn by bullocks, were unavoidably left considerably in the rear.

A deep hollow way passed along the skirt of the camp, behind which all the French troops had rallied, supported by their heavy guns, placed so as to command the line of advance. But just as the English troops had taken up their position to attack, and the leading company had stepped out to give their fire, the field-pieces came in sight-and the enemy, as if panic struck, went to the right about, and fled again in the utmost confusion, leaving their camp and the remainder of their guns in the hands of the victors; but the English following them up rapidly, many threw down their arms, and surrendered themselves prisoners. No victory could have been more complete. The enemy were totally routed and dispersed. Thirty-two pieces of artillery, including seven mortars of from 13 to 8 inches calibre, 50 ammunition carriages, a large supply of shot and shell, 1,000 draught bullocks, and the whole of the camp equipage and stores were captured; 6 French officers and 70 Europeans were killed or mortally wounded, and about 50 more slightly wounded; 6 officers and 50 Europeans, rank and file, were taken prisoners, and the loss of their sipahis must also have been considerable.

Thus ended the battle of Condore, one of the most brilliant actions on military record; which, however, is generally but little known or mentioned in the service; and, by a strange chance, not one of the corps employed has ever received any distinction for this most important victory, whilst the 1st Madras European fusiliers, of which not an officer or man, excepting Captain Callender, was present, have the word 'Condore' emblazoned on their colours and appointments. The corps, properly entitled to this distinction, are the present 1st Bengal European fusiliers, the 1st Regiment of Bengal native infantry, and the Bengal artillery. The 2nd native battalion is no longer in existence, and the Madras sipahis present were never organized as a regular corps.-Pp. 215-220.

There is a slight misprint in this excellent description of the battle; thus the French battalion is described as obliquing to the left, to engage the second native battalion, instead of to the right, which it actually did. This should be corrected, as it involves in obscurity an important movement in the action, and might puzzle a young military reader.

After this engagement, although the French force was still superior to that of the English, yet Colonel Forde did not hesitate to advance and fight his way to Masulipatam. He was delayed, however, for six weeks, in consequence of the vacillating conduct of the Rajah, and the difficulty in procuring supplies of money, cattle, and carriage. On the 28th January, the force at length moved forward, and on the 6th February reached Ellore; but Anundíraj still delayed them; so that it was not till the 1st March that he was ready to march from thence. On the 3rd March, Captain MacLean took the little fort of Konkale, where he met with a gallant resistance; and, on the 6th, the force arrived before Masulipatam. We have no space to extract the full description of the siege of this strong fort; but the determined conduct of Colonel Forde in reducing it, entitles him to the highest military praise. The garrison consisted of 500 European and 2,000 sepoys, independent of an army of observation under Monsieur Du Rocher; while the forces of Salabut Jung, Subadar of the Deccan, amounting to 15,000 horse and 30,000 foot, were actually on their way to raise the siege of the place :

The treasure chest was completely empty. Colonel Forde and all the officers of the force had advanced whatever sums they possessed, and the prize money had been used and all expended in procuring provisions, whilst the troops were several months in arrears of pay.

Such was the condition of the English detachment-besieging a superior force, which was well supplied with all the means and material for defence in a place of acknowledged strength-themselves with the most scanty material, ill supplied with provisions, and entirely without funds ; whilst the enemy possessed a separate force without the wall, which crippled their resources, and prevented the arrival of the money sent from Bengal; -in addition to all which, a powerful Army was advancing to the relief of the place.-P. 230.

Colonel Forde saw that the taking of Masulipatam was the main object of the campaign; and, like a good General, he sacrificed every thing to gain that vital point. By his authority, example, and influence, he quelled a serious mutiny amongst his men; he negotiated and temporized with Salabut Jung, who had advanced within forty miles of the place; and, just at the moment that his small stock of ammunition was almost exhausted, and his enemies were rejoicing in anticipation of his speedily falling a prey to the combined army of Du Rocher and the Deccan troops, he stormed and took the fort, on the night of the 7th of April. With 372 Europeans, and 700 sepoys, he took a place, containing a garrison, as shown by the muster roll of the previous day, of 522 Europeans in the battalion, besides nearly 100 European agents of the Company, officers, and merchants, and

2,537 Caffrees, topasses, and sepoys. One hundred and twenty pieces of ordnance were found in the fort, and a large supply of military stores, which were of great value to the English at the time. The conduct of our troops in the assault was admirable: the sepoys emulated the Europeans in gallantry, and to their conduct on this occasion, much of this brilliant success may be justly ascribed:

When the whole of the attendant circumstances are considered-the numerical superiority of the enemy, the strength of the place, and the disadvantages under which the English force was labouring, as also the great importance of the conquest-few achievements on Indian record can be compared with this brilliant affair, which is surely deserving of commemoration; and it is to be hoped that the corps still in existence, which were employed in that assault, may, even at this late date, receive the distinction so justly due, and be permitted to emblazon the word Masulipatam" upon their colours and appointments. These corps are the Bengal artillery, the 1st Bengal European fusiliers, and the 1st regiment of Bengal native infantry.

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The apparent impossibility and rashness of such an attempt were probably the chief causes of its success: for the garrison was only waiting the arrival of Salabut Jung and the Army of Observation, to commence a concerted and combined attack upon the English force, which they already looked upon as completely in their power, and consequently treated all its efforts with perfect contempt.-P. 241.

Salabut Jung was astonished and surprised at the fall of the place. He re-advanced to within fifteen miles of it; but finding it impossible to retake it, he concluded a treaty with the English, and hastily retraced his steps-his presence being urgently required in his own dominions, in consequence of the preparations that had been made by his brother, Nizam Ali, to seize the Subahdari. Thus every thing fell out as Colonel Forde had hoped, and anticipated. The most effectual aid was given to the English cause by the capture of Masulipatam, and the French interests in that part of the country were entirely destroyed. We must pass over the rest of the gallant acts of this detachment: but we give our readers Captain Broome's admirable summary of the effects of this expedition, which returned to Bengal in March 1760:

Thus terminated this brilliant expedition, during which the troops obtained all the objects contemplated, diverted the attention and means of the French from the prosecution of the war at Madras, gained one glorious and complete victory in the field, took one of the strongest forts in that part of India, captured upwards of 200 pieces of cannon, acquired a most valuable and extensive tract for the Company, drove the French completely out of the Northern Provinces, and destroyed their influence at the Court of the Nizam;-and all this, in the face of a superior force of regular troops, and in spite of difficulties and obstacles of the most serious nature. Viewed under all the circumstances attending it, and the results obtained, this may be considered one of the most successful and important expeditions ever