English. He raised two battalions in 1772, which he soon
afterwards increased to four; and let out always to the highest
bidder--first, to the Jat chiefs of Dig, then to the chief of Jaipur,
then to Najaf Khan, the prime minister, and then to the Marathas. His
battalions were officered by Europeans, but Europeans of
respectability were unwilling to take service under a man so
precariously situated, however great their necessities; and he was
obliged to content himself for the most part with the very dross of
society--men who could neither read nor write, nor keep themselves
sober. The consequence was that the battalions were often in a state
of mutiny, committing every kind of outrage upon the persons of their
officers, and at all times in a state of insubordination bordering on
mutiny. These battalions seldom obtained their pay till they put
their commandant into confinement, and made him dig up his hidden
stores, if he had any, or borrow from bankers, if he had none. If the
troops felt pressed for time, and their commander was of the
necessary character, they put him astride upon a hot gun without his
trousers. When our battalion had got its pay out of him in this
manner, he was often handed over to another for the same purpose. The
poor old Begam had been often subjected to the starving stage of this
proceeding before she came under our protection; but had never, I
believe, been grilled upon a gun. It was a rule, it was said, with
Sombre, to enter the field of battle at the safest point, form line
facing the enemy, fire a few rounds in the direction where they
stood, without regard to the distance or effect, form square, and
await the course of events. If victory declared for the enemy, he
sold his unbroken force to him to great advantage; if for his
friends, he assisted them in collecting the plunder, and securing all
the advantages of the victory. To this prudent plan of action his
corps afterwards steadily adhered; and they never took or lost a gun
till they came in contact with our forces at Ajanta and Assaye.[13]

Sombre died at Agra on the 4th of May, 1778, and his remains were at
first buried in his garden. They were afterwards removed to the
consecrated ground in the Agra churchyard by his widow the Begam,[14]
who was baptized, at the age of forty,[15] by a Roman Catholic
priest, under the name of Joanna,[16] on the 7th of May, 1781.

On the death of her husband she was requested to take command of the
for