The conflagration spread,
a panic ensued, and some seventy or eighty men jumped into the boats
alongside.
The officers, however, rallied the rest of the crew. The fire was
extinguished, the men returned to their duty, and the cannonade was
recommenced.
After the battle had raged for two hours, the fire of the fort began
to slacken, as one after another of the guns was dismounted. Monsieur
Renault saw that the place could be no longer defended. Of his hundred
and forty-six soldiers, over ninety had been killed and wounded.
Collecting the remainder, and their officers, with twenty Sepoys, the
governor ordered them to leave the fort immediately; making a detour
to avoid the English, who were aiding the fleet by attacking the land
side, and to march to Kossimbazar to join Monsieur Law, who commanded
there. Then, there remaining in the fort only the clerks, women, and
wounded, he hoisted a flag of truce.
Terms were speedily arranged. The governor, and all the civilians and
natives, were allowed to go where they chose, with their clothes and
linen. The wounded French soldiers were to remain, as prisoners of
war.
Chandranagore cost the English two hundred and six men.
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