The English, who, in compliance with his intreaties, had refrained from attacking the French, when they could have done so with advantage, expressed a hope that now, when their enemies had the superiority, the nabob would interpose his authority for their protection; but they neglected to accompany this reasonable request with that bribe or offering, which, in an Asiatic court, is deemed an indispensable concomitant of all solicitations for aid; and Dupleix, already deeply versed in Indian politics, neutralised the inclinations of the professed friend of the English, by promising to make him master of Madras, for the repossession of which he intimated that the English would pay a rich ransom. The evasions of the French governor, however, soon convinced the nabob that he had been duped; and he sent an army of 10,000 men, under his son, Maphuze Khan, to retake Madras, which he appears to have thought would be very easily effected. The French garrison, consisting of one battalion, desisted from hostilities as long as they could, but they were at last compelled to retaliate; and the repeated defeats of the besiegers soon obliged them to retreat to Arcot; and that court, whose troops had never before come in contact with disciplined soldiers, seemed as if awakened from the influence of a spell, and viewed with just alarm, in all its magnitude and consequences, the imminent danger they incurred by allowing such settlements to be made upon their shore. Dupleix, having been considerably reinforced by troops left by La Bourdonnais, determined on the siege of Fort St. David (A. D. 1746), the second settlement of the English on the coast of Coromandel.[13] The authorities entrusted with that settlement applied for aid to the nabob of Arcot; and that prince, who was full of resentment at the French, readily complied with their request, the English having consented to defray part of the expenses of their auxiliaries. Maphuze Khan, and his brother, Mahomed Ali, were sent with a considerable body of troops, who, on their arrival, surprised a detachment of the French, that had been sent to take up an advanced position, and compelled them to retreat. The failure of this first, and of another attempt, on Fort St. David, induced Dupleix to try (and not without success) to detach the nabob from his connection with the English; who, deserted by their ally, appeared on the brink of ruin, when the fortunate arrival of an English fleet, under Admiral Griffin (March, 1747), obliged the French governor to draw all his troops within the walls of Pondicherry. The drooping spirits of the inhabitants of Fort St. David were, at the same time, raised by reinforcements of troops from Tellicherry and Bombay. All these were placed under the orders of Major Lawrence, an officer of high reputation in his Majesty's service (Jan. 1748), who had been nominated to the command of all the Company's forces in India.