ver, were a couple of heavy guns,
under the orders of a native officer. Behind these two advanced
parties, and within supporting distance, was a chosen body of 5000
horse and 7000 foot, under the immediate command of the Nawab's most
faithful general, Mir Madan.[5] The rest of the Nawab's army extended
in a curve, its right resting on the hillock near the camp; thence
sweeping round in dense columns of horse and foot to the eastward of
the south-east angle of the grove. Here, nearest to the English, were
placed the troops of Mir Jafar, then those of Yar Lutf Khan, beyond
these Raja Dulab Ram. The English within the grove were thus almost
surrounded by the river and the enemy; but in view of the promised
treachery of Mir Jafar, the greatest danger was to be apprehended
from their immediate front, viz. from St. Frais, with his little body
of Frenchmen, and from Mir Madan.

[Footnote 5: See Elliot's _History of India_, vol. viii. p. 428.]

From the roof of the hunting-house Clive watched his enemy take up
the positions which would hold {98}him, if their generals were true
to their master, in a vice. 'They approached apace,' he wrote in a
letter of July 26 to the Secret Committee of the Court of Directors,
'and by six began to attack us with a number of heavy cannon,
supported by the whole army, and continued to play on us very briskly
for several hours, during which our situation was of the utmost
service to us, being lodged in a large grove, with good mud banks. To
succeed in an attempt on their cannon was next to impossible, as they
were planted in a manner round us, and at considerable distances from
each other. We therefore remained quiet in our post, in expectation
of a successful attack upon their camp at night. About noon the enemy
drew off their artillery and returned to their camp.'

So far, up to mid-day, we have the outline of the fight as narrated
by Clive; it is, however, but an outline. It would seem that the
action commenced by a discharge of one of the four guns of St. Frais.
This discharge killed one and wounded another of the men of the
European battalion. Immediately afterwards the whole of the enemy's
guns opened fire, but their shots flew high, and did but little
mischief. Clive meanwhile had drawn up his troops in line in front of
the grove, their left resting on the hunting-box, with the exception
of two guns and two howitzers which he had posted at some brick-kilns
some 200 yards in front of the