each Plassey. Clive's force,
after struggling through mud and water in a continued torrent of rain,
did not arrive at the village until one o'clock on the morning of the
23d. Clive had heard from Mir Jafar that the Nawab's army would halt at
Mankarah, a place some miles short of Plassey; but the Nawab had changed
his plans, and reached Plassey twelve hours before Clive. Thus, on his
arrival, Clive found that the enemy were close at hand. He spent the
remainder of the night making his dispositions, while his troops
bivouacked in an extensive mango-grove on ground already soaked by the
rain, which was still falling. The mango-grove was 800 yards in length
and 300 in breadth, and was surrounded by a bank and a ditch. About
fifty yards beyond it stood a hunting-box belonging to the Nawab of
Oude. Of this Clive at once took possession. The grove was little more
than a mile from the Nawab's encampment. The force under Clive, as
stated, did no exceed 3200 men, of whom 900 were English, 200 were
Eurasians, and 2100 native Sepoys. There was a small artillery train,
composed of eight six-pounders and two small howitzers. The Nawab's
army, so far as numerical strength was concerned, was enormously
superior to Clive's force. It consisted of 35,000 infantry--for the most
part imperfectly trained and undisciplined--and 15,000 cavalry well
mounted and well armed. He had 53 pieces of artillery, most of them of
heavy calibre, and with them 40 or 50 Frenchmen commanded by M. St.
Frais, who had been a member of the French council at Chandernagor. His
army occupied a strongly intrenched position. His right rested on the
river, while his left stretched out into the open plain.

The following is a brief description of the battle, taken from Clive's
journal of military proceedings:

"At daybreak we discovered the Nawab's army at the distance of about
three miles in full march towards us, upon which the whole were ordered
under arms, being in two battalions. The Europeans were told off in four
grand divisions, the artillery distributed between them, and the Sepoys
on the right and left of the whole.

"Our situation was very advantageous, being in a grove surrounded by
high mud-banks. Our right and front were entirely covered by those
mud-banks, our left by Placis' house and the river, our rear by the
grove and a large village. The enemy approached apace, covered a fine
extensive plain in front of us as far as the eye could discern from
righ