The country was,
however, here laid out in rice fields, each inclosed by banks and
ditches. Over these banks it was impossible to drag the guns, and the
sailors could only get them along by descending into the ditches, and
using these as roads. The labour was prodigious, and the men, fatigued
and harassed by this battle in darkness, and by the fire from the
unseen guns which the enemy continued to pour in their direction from
either flank, began to lose heart.
Happily, however, the fog began to lift. The flanks of the columns
were covered by bodies of troops, thrown out on either side, and after
more than an hour's hard work, and abandoning two of the guns which
had broken down, Clive reached the main road, again formed his men in
column, and advanced towards the city.
The odds were overwhelmingly against him. There were guns, infantry,
and cavalry, both in front and behind them. The column pressed on, in
spite of the heavy fire, crossed the ditch, and attacked a strong body
of the enemy drawn up on the opposite side. While it did so, a great
force of the nabob's cavalry swept down on the rear, and for a moment
captured the guns. Ensign Yorke, of the 39th Foot, faced the rear
company about, and made a gallant charge upon the horsemen, drove them
back, and recaptured the guns.
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