troops
should land near Maiapur, and march thence. Clive, much against his
own opinion, followed this order. Landing, he covered the ten miles,
and posted his troops in two villages whence it would be easy to
attack the fort on the morrow. The troops, tired with the march, and
fearing no enemy, then lay down to sleep. But the Governor of
Calcutta, Manikchand, had reached Baj-baj that very morning with a
force of 2000 foot and 1500 horse. He had noted, unseen, all {82}the
dispositions of Clive, and at nightfall he sallied forth to surprise
him. The surprise took effect, in the sense that it placed the
English force in very great danger. But it was just one of those
situations in which Clive was at his very best. He recognized on the
moment that if he were to cause his troops to fall back beyond reach
of the enemy's fire, there would be a great danger of a panic. He
ordered therefore the line to stand firm where it was, whilst he
detached two platoons, from different points, to assail the enemy.
One of these suffered greatly from the enemy's fire, but the
undaunted conduct of the English in pressing on against superior
numbers so impressed the native troops that they fell back, despite
the very gallant efforts of their officers to rally them. Clive was
then able to form his main line in an advantageous position, and a
shot from one of his field-pieces grazing the turban of Manikchand,
that chief gave the signal to retire. That night the fort of Baj-baj
was taken by a drunken sailor, who, scrambling over the parapet,
hailed to his comrades to join him. They found the place abandoned.

On the 2nd of January Calcutta surrendered to Clive. A great
altercation took place between that officer and Watson as to the
appointment of Governor of that town. Watson had actually nominated
Major Eyre Coote, but Clive protested so strongly that, eventually,
Watson himself took possession, and then handed the keys to Mr.
Drake, the same Drake who had so shamefully abandoned the place at
the time of {83}Siraj-ud-daula's attack. Three days later Clive
stormed the important town of Hugli, once a Portuguese settlement,
afterwards held by the English, but at the time occupied for the
Nawab.

Meanwhile that prince, collecting his army, numbering about 40,000
men of sorts, was marching to recover his lost conquest. To observe
him Clive took a position at Kasipur, a suburb of Calcutta, now the
seat of a gun-factory. As the Nawab approached, the