his three officers, threw himself among them
and, for some time, in vain attempted to turn the tide. It was not,
indeed, until several had been cut down that the rout was arrested,
and they were brought back to their duty.

A day or two later a shot, striking a rock, killed or wounded fourteen
men; and excited such a panic, that it was some time before the rest
would venture near the front.

The enemy, with a considerable force, marched from Chengalpatt to
relieve the place. Clive left half his force to continue the siege,
and with the rest marched out and offered battle to the relieving
force. Daring and confidence, as usual, prevailed. Had the enemy
attacked, there is little doubt they would have put Clive's raw levies
to flight. They were, however, cowed by his attitude of defiance, and
retreated hastily.

The governor of Covelong at once lost heart and surrendered the place;
which he might have maintained, for months, against the force before
it; and on the fourth day of the siege, capitulated.

A few hours afterwards the enemy from Chengalpatt, ignorant of the
fall of the fort, again advanced; and Clive met them with his whole
force. Taken by surprise, they suffered heavily. Clive pursued them to
the gates of their fort, to which he at once laid siege.

Fortunately for the English, the commander of this place, like him of
Covelong, was cowardly and incapable. Had it not been so, the fort,
which was very strong, well provisioned, and well garrisoned, might
have held out for an indefinite time. As it was, it surrendered on the
fourth day, and Clive took possession on the 31st of August.

He returned to Madras, and there, a short time afterwards, married
Miss Maskelyne. Finding his health, however, continuing to
deteriorate, he sailed for Europe in February, 1753. It was but five
years since he had first taken up arms to defend Fort Saint David, an
unknown clerk, without prospects and without fortune, utterly
discontented and disheartened.

Madras was in the hands of the French. Everywhere their policy was
triumphant, and the soil surrounded by the walls of Saint David's,
alone, remained to the English in Southern India. In the five years
which had elapsed, all had changed. The English were masters of the
Carnatic. The French were broken and discredited. The English were
regarded by the natives throughout the country as the coming power;
and of this great change, no slight portion was due to the energy and
ge