The junction with the Arcot garrison raised the force under Clive's
orders to three hundred and eighty English, thirteen hundred Sepoys,
and six field guns, while the enemy at Vendalur, a place twenty-five
miles south of Madras, where they had a fortified camp, had four
hundred French troops, two thousand Sepoys, two thousand five hundred
cavalry, and twelve guns.
Hoping to surprise them there, Clive marched all night. When the force
approached the town they heard that the enemy had disappeared, and
that they had started, apparently, in several directions.
The force was halted for a few hours, and then the news was obtained
that the enemy had united their forces at Conjeveram, and that they
had marched away from that place in a westerly direction. Doubting not
that they were about to attack Arcot, which, weakened by the departure
of the greater portion of its garrison, would be in no position to
defend itself against a sudden coup de main by a strong force, Clive
set his troops again in motion. The French, indeed, had already bribed
some of the native soldiers within the fort; who were to reply to a
signal made without, if they were in a position to open the gates.
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