"The English battalion at Trichinopoly," says Orme, "did not exceed 600 men; whereas the French had 900, and the troops of Chunda Sahib outnumbered the Nabob's ten to one. The strength of the city, indeed, rendered the reduction of it very difficult; but the Nabob's army, at the same time that they were incapable of retrieving his affairs, exhausted his treasures, and his revenues were daily cut off by the enemy taking possession of the countries which furnished them. "Captain Clive, on his return from Trichinopoly in the beginning of August, represented this situation of affairs to the Presidency, and proposed, as the only resource, to attack the possessions of Chunda Sahib in the territory of Arcot; offering to lead the expedition himself, which, he doubted not, would cause a diversion of part of the enemy's force from Trichinopoly. Fort St. David and Madras were left, the one with 100, the other with less than 50 men, in order to supply the greatest force that could be collected for this enterprise. The detachment, when completed, nevertheless, consisted of no more than 300 sepoys and 200 Europeans, with eight officers, six of whom had never before been in action; and four of these six were young men in the mercantile service of the Company, who, inflamed by his example, took up the sword to follow him. This handful of men, with only three field-pieces for their artillery, marched from Madras on the 26th of August, and on the 29th arrived at Conjeveram, a considerable town, with a large pagoda, lying about forty miles inland, where they received intelligence that the fort of Arcot was garrisoned by 1100 men; on which Captain Clive wrote word to Madras, desiring that two eighteen-pounders might be sent after him without any delay. On the 31st he halted within ten miles of Arcot, where the enemy's spies reported, that they had discovered the English marching with unconcern through a violent storm of thunder, lightning, and rain: and this circumstance, from their notions of omens, gave the garrison so high an opinion of the fortitude of the approaching enemy, that they instantly abandoned the fort, and a few hours after the English entered the city, which had no walls or defences, and marching through 100,000 spectators, who gazed on them with admiration and respect, took possession of the fort, in which they found a large quantity of lead and gunpowder, with eight pieces of cannon, from four to eight-pounders. The merchants had, for security, deposited in the fort effects to the value of 50,000_l._; but these were punctually restored to the owners; and this judicious abstemiousness conciliated many of the principal inhabitants to the English interest. The fort was inhabited by 3000 or 4000 persons, who, at their own request, were permitted to remain in their dwellings.