Battle Honours of the British Army: From Tangier, 1662, to the Commencement of the Reign of King Edward VIINorman, Charles Boswell
History
Battle Honours of the British Army: From Tangier, 1662, to the Commencement of the Reign of King Edward VII
Norman, Charles Boswell
Great Britain -- History, Military; Great Britain. Army -- History
An honour borne by the Royal Munster Fusiliers only. The crushing
defeats inflicted by Forde on Conflans had the effect of restoring
our prestige in Madras. But in Bengal Clive was in no very
enviable position. The Dutch, who had a settlement at Chinsura, on
the Hooghly, had commenced open hostilities, and a Dutch fleet,
with a considerable force on board, entered that river. Clive
had at his disposal about 300 of the 1st Bengal Europeans, and
until the return of Forde from Masulipatam matters at Calcutta
were serious. As soon as Forde arrived, Clive, who believed only
in the offensive, ordered the victor of Condore to attack the
land force, whilst he determined to destroy the Dutch fleet with
some armed East Indiamen at his disposal. On November 20 Forde
marched to Chandernagore (the French settlement on the Hooghly,
some miles above Calcutta), and on the following day moved on to
Chinsura--only a few miles distant--where a small detachment of
the Dutch were encamped. He was joined here by Knox (a Company's
officer who had been under Forde at Condore), with a body of eighty
volunteer cavalry, raised from the English residents in Calcutta,
and a strong battalion of sepoys. He now learnt that the Dutch
force was moving to attack him. Confident of victory, Forde wrote
to Clive, asking for permission to forestall them. The story runs
that Clive was playing cards when Forde's letter reached him.
Laying down his hand, Clive scribbled on the back of the letter:
"Dear Forde,--Fight them. I will send you the Order in Council
to-morrow." Then, taking up his cards, went on with the game. On
November 25 the two forces came into collision. Forde's handful of
cavalry converted the check, which the steady fire of Knox's guns
had inflicted on the Dutch, into a rout. Practically the entire
Dutch force was either killed, wounded, or taken. The Government
in Holland repudiated the action of the Governor of their Indian
settlements, and paid compensation to the East India Company. But
Forde's little fight at Badara is deserving of recognition, not
merely because it was a gallant action fought against serious odds,
but more especially because it put an end once and for all to all
pretensions of the Dutch to supremacy in the East.
Unfortunately, no records exist showing the casualties we suffered
at the action of Badara.
WANDEWASH, JANUARY 22, 1760.
An honour borne only by the Royal Dublin Fusiliers.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account