Chap. XI.]
COOTE'S CONTINUED SUCCESSES.
631
ammunition. Still, however, they maintained the defence manfully at a consi- a.d. itoo. derable loss of life to the besiegers, and six days elapsed before they surrendered. Lally on this, as on many other occasions, was only a little too late. A large detachment was actually on the way to throw a considerable reinforcement of men and stores into the fort, when intelligence of Coote's approacii frustrated the design.
The reduction of the places still in pos- session of the French might now be considered as merely a work of time, and the British j)roceeded to attack fort after fort with MJmost unvarying success. It is affirmed, hideed, by Lally, that had they, instead of directing their attention to subordinate ob- jects, marched du'eet upon Pondicherry, they might have made themselves masters of it in eight days. On such a subject he ought to be a good authority; but as he makes this statement when his object was to show how shamefully the authorities had acted in not providing better for its defence, it may he presumed that there was some exaggeration in it. Coote thought differently, and therefore acted more cautiou.sly bv not ^'^v*-^""
° ... . •' " (if places
attempting to take Pondicheny till it was rendered in a manner defence- aronn.i ron- less, by the capture of all the places from which it might have drawn assist- ance. Though the French squadron had long been withdrawn from the coast, and that of the British been reinforced to a strength which it had never before possessed, it was not impossible that, as a last resource, Count d'Ache, or some more enteqiri.sing naval commander, might make his appearance from the Mam-itius, or directly from France, and by throwing in supplies enable Pondicherry to maintain a protracted defence. It was desirable, there- fore, that all the places where such ships could rendezvous, and enjoy even a temporary protection, should be reduced. These places on the Coromandel coa.st were now only two: Alumparva to the north of PondicheiTV, and Carrical to the south. Coote, still suffering from a wound which he had received at Permacoil, intrusted the siege of Alumparva to Major Monson. It was invested on the 10th of March, and though a place of some strength. liaN-ing a fort solidly built of stone, and inclosed by a wet ditch, surrendered at discretion on the third day. Carrical being considered a place of more consequence, the prepara- tions made for besieging it were on a greater scale. As it was intended at the same time to maintam as large an army as possible near Pondicherry, in order to intercept all supplies from the suiTOunding country, some difficulty was
Sepoys, Bengal Army. — From Solvyn,
L«s Htndouf.
Ill
