alternatehistory.com

In India, all is not well

Despite their victory in taking Madras, the French continued to have problems. Comte Thomas Arthur Lally had been initially selected for to lead the campaign because he was a French officer (rather than a French east India company officer), because of his connections in France and due to his promises to assert French European control over undue reliance on local forces and allies.

The Marquis de Bussy who was already in India at the time, was an East Inida company officer, knew the local conditions and relied on and worked with French aligned local India rulers. Prior to the Siege of Madras, the two men came to frequent arguments. The French came close to revolt over lack of pay, and in order to move men and equipment into place for the siege of Madras, Lally ignored the caste systems, and enforced the work he needed to get the job down. This resulted in souring many relations, and causing many French aligned Hindu’s to leave the area.

Madras Naval Action of February 17th

Comte de’Ache and Comte Lally had hope to surprise and engage Admiral Pocock’s fleet when it arrived at Madras in an attempt to relieve the Siege. They had learned this from the imprisoned sailors of the HMS Revenge which had been captured on January 31st, after having gone ahead of the main fleet in an attempt to assist resupply the British garrison.

Madras had fallen on February 2nd, and it would not be long before the British fleet arrived. This was one reason for Lally’s reluctance to send de Bussy north after learning of the British expedition to Masulipatum.

On February 17th, Admiral Pocock arrived with a force larger than expected, and the surprise they had hoped for was lost due to unfavorable winds and weather. In the 14 days since Madras’s fall, Lally had not gotten the shore defenses back in order, or even much of the Fortifications of the city rebuilt yet. Part of this was because of the British spiking their guns before their surrender, and non-cooperation of the local population. The only shore defenses Lally had would have to come from the French fleet.

Admiral Pock, expecting the city to still be under British control, but in despite need of aid, had brought most of the British Indian ocean fleet. The French had only those that had been undamaged or repaired since the battle of Negapatum the prior year.

British Fleet: HMS Elizabeth (64), Tiger (60), Waymouth (60), Medway (60), Salisbury (50), Hampshire (50), Newcastle (50), East-Indiaman Protector (44) theFrigates Queensborough (24), Sylphide (32) (ex-french)

French Fleet: Comte de Province (68), Fortune (58), Sechelles (60), Moras (60), Conde (50), the Frigates Revenge (28) (ex-british), Diligente (24), Thetis (22)

Despite a valiant fight in the twilight hours within sight of the on looking French troops at Madras, Comte de Ache ships began to take too much of a beating from the British guns. When Admiral Pocock had managed to split off and cripple the Conde as night was falling. De Ache knew he was losing and retreat back to Mauritius in the night or lose more ships. The naval battle took place in full view of the French and the captured British Garrison, who learned of the events from the local Indians tasked with feeding the prisoners.

Admiral Pocock, after securing the Conde and taking the French crew as prisoners, knew that de Ache wouldn’t be back anytime soon. On the following morning He sent a flag a truce out to Lally, while moving his forces into a blockade position around Madras. After being ignored by Lally for three days, Pocock order his ships to shell and set fire to the docks. Lally finally sent out an officer to hear the British.

Pocock knew he couldn’t take Madras back, and wasn’t expecting to. Instead he offered a prisoner exchange, the captured British garrison in exchange for the French sailors and the Conde, in such condition that it was. After a couple of days of more delaying, Lally agreed, if the British would also withdraw their blockade.

Lally had been delaying in the hopes of gaining more time to prepare his defenses and rebuild the fortification, unsure of whether the British were planning to attempt to reconquer the city. Pocock agree to the departure as he didn’t intend to stay anyway, because he knew in advance of Forde’s planned attack on Masulipatum.

On February 25th, the exchange was finally completed.

Battle Results:
British Forces: 1/3rd of Fleet moderate to heavily damaged.
French Forces: 1/2 of Fleet heavily damaged, (temporary) capture of the Conde

Clear British Victory

After the victory of the French fleet, Pocock turned the fleet northward to assist Forde in his victory at Masulipatum.

Battle of Rajahmudry

Colonel Francis Forde, despite an indecisive defeat and Condore, resumed his southern advance via ships along the coast in January, after learning of the French’s continual withdrawal of forces southwards to take Madras. In early February Forde succeeded in taking the French outposts at Ellore and Narsupore, capturing several guns and supplies.

After the battle of Condore, Conflans had returned to Masultipatam, but kept Du Rocher in the field with a French observation army. As Forde marched south and took out the French outposts, Du Rocher threatened the nearby Indian provinces led by the Rajah Anunderaj and the Zamindar (tax collector) of Narsurpore, which could result in cut off supply lines and loss of finances for the British expedition. Faced with this threat Forde took the risk of moving inland to take on Du Rocher.

On February 18th, the British force of 2000, despite losing their Indian allies, took on the only slightly larger French observation force of 250 French troops and 2000 allied Indian sepoys.

Just outside of Rajamundry Forde decisively engaged the French forces. Du Rocher was killed early on by light artillery fire, instilling panic in the Indian forces who fled from the battle, resulting in a decisive victory for Forde.

Battle Results:
British Forces: Less than 50 dead and wounded.
French Forces: 100 dead or wounded, 150 captured. 200 Indian forces dead, wounded or captured, the remainder fled the field. Some supplies and light guns captured.

Decisive British Victory

The result of this battle caused Rajah Anunderaj and Zamindar of Narsurpore to reinstate their alliance with the British and resend their forces to Forde who was the free again to march on Masultipatam, his rear supply lines secured for now.

When word of the British march on Masulipatum reached Lally (by then Masulipatum would have been under siege) he would aim to resend de Bussy north with a force to relieve it, as well as petition Salabat Jung to raise forces in alliance with the French over the British’s daring invasion of his vassal provinces.

Siege of Masulipatam

Forde began the siege on March 2nd and after just over two weeks; he had his guns in place and began firing on the town on March 17th. During this time, word had reached the French in Madras, and Lally was organizing a force to send with de Bussy back north to end the British siege. French troops were still grumbling over pay despite being placated via ‘minor looting’ in the city, which Lally was had been trying to keep control over, and due to delays and harassment by British ships in seaward supply, the French force didn’t depart until March 18th, just after the bombardment began.

Intense bombardment set fire to many parts of the fortress, but most of the direct damage to the fortifications we being repaired by Conflans and the French troops at night, but slow steady progress was being made.

After seven days of bombardment, Forde learned Salabat Jung was marching to the requested aid of de Bussy and du Rocher of the French, whose combined army could arrive by the month’s end.

Forde was on the verge of debating withdrawal. He had just under 2000 British regulars and 6100 Indian Sepoys to take on Conflans force of nearly 5000 French soldiers and Indian Sepoys. He also had news that Jung was raising a 40,000 man Indian army to strike at his rear.

When British ships were sighted off the coast, Forde and his men rejoiced. They were reinforced with a those troops that had recovered from the battle of Condore, as well as a couple hundred British marines, and fresh supplies. British fire also pounded the French defenses from the seaward side, together with his own renewed barrage; they turned the sea facing Francois bastion into a ruin, straining the morale of the garrison forces.

On March 27th, Forde felt it was time to storm the fort, after hearing of more word of the approaching French reinforcements. He needed to secure it before their arrival. After an intense battle, Forde successfully stormed the fortress.

Battle Results:
British Forces: 100 dead and wounded British soldiers; 300 dead or wounded British allied Indian Sepoys.
French Forces: 120 French and European dead and wounded; 200 Indian dead and wounded. 480 French forces surrendered, including Conflans, and over 2600 French allied Indian Sepoys.

Clear British Victory

Despite being only a few days away from Masulipatum with superior forces, word of its fall, paralyzed Jung’s eastward march, and Du Bussy’s northwards one. Sensing weakness in Jung’s hesitancy, Forde immediately sent and envoy to Jung in an effort to get him to back down, and he agreed to open negotiations, and halt his advance. Without being able to join his forces with Jung, de Bussy too turned around to head back to Madras.

Lally’s summoning of de Bussy to aid in the Siege of Madras, while ultimately victorious, was in fact a terrible blunder. Hyderabad, where de Bussy had been stationed, had been well under French control. After his departure and the fall of Masultipatam, the British persuaded Salabat Jung to secede large tracts of territory to them along the coast.

On April 5th, the southern Monsoon season arrived with a terrible storm, and washed out roads and mired de Bussy’s artillery train on its way back to Madras. This combined with other setbacks ended Lally’s hopes for a quick re-conquest of Masilpatum.