William Watts - Memoirs of the Revolution in Bengal, Anno Dom. 1757

Cassimbuzar being situated, as it were, at his Door, was of course the first attacked. He caused the Place to be invested on the Twenty-second of May , by a numerous Body of Troops, and then invited Mr. Watts , who was Chief of the Factory, to a Conference, upon a Safe-Conduct. As the Place (in the Opinion of the best Judges) was indefensible, and if it had been defensible, was without a Garrison; as in point of Ceremony it was the usual Custom for the Chief of that Factory to compliment every new Suba on his assuming that Office, and Mr. Watts had all imaginable Reason to hope a good Reception, he accepted that Invitation, and went to the Suba's Camp, where, contrary to his Faith, and in Breach of those Engagements which are in that Country held sacred, he seized and detained him, till by pursuing the same Conduct, and intermixing Fraud and Force against those who had not the Means, and perhaps were doubtful whether they had any Authority to resist, he possessed himself of Cassimbuzar , on the fourth of June , and then made no farther Secret of his Design to deprive the English of all their Settlements, to which, according to the Constitution of the Mogul Empire, they had a much better Right than he had to his Dominions. Thus the Troubles of Bengal were begun by him in whose Ruin they ended.

This Step taken, his next Enterprize was directly against Calcutta ; to reduce which, the Suba marched with an Army of Seventy thousand Men, and, when he became Master of it, acted with a Degree of insolent Cruelty, of which the World is too well apprized already, to need any Detail of it here. Let it suffice then to say, that the Suba wreaked his Malice, for Vengeance it could not be stiled, upon a Multitude of innocent People, who had never given him the smallest Offence. Having destroyed the Place, recalled, and then again dispersed the Inhabitants, and with the same lawless Violence extorted large Sums from the French and Dutch Factories, that he might seem to manifest a general Distaste to Europeans , he returned to Muxadavad in Triumph.

He had full five Months from this Period to recollect himself, and to consider the Effects of these bold and arbitrary Proceedings, and in which he might have concerted either the Means of restoring the Peace of the Province, or of fortifying his own Strength in such a manner as to be able to make Head against all his Enemies; for he began to find, that besides those this wanton Exercise of his Power had excited, he had several amongst such as had been subject to the Authority, and even sincerely attached to the Person of his Predecessor. But his extreme Haughtiness, and his perpetual Suspicions, joined to the natural Mutability of his Temper, and Want of Experience, being a very young Man, rendered him equally incapable of correcting past Errors, or of digesting any well-connected Plan, and supporting it with that Firmness, without which Success is not to be expected. Sometimes obstinate, mostly irresolute, he forfeited equally the Esteem of Foreigners and Neighbours; and by an unaccountable Compound of Fickleness and Severity, lost the Confidence of all, and excited the Secret Hatred of most of those who were about him.

On the Fifth of December Admiral Watson anchored with his Squadron in Ballasore Road, to which Place Mr. Watts and Mr. Becher , both Gentlemen of the Council, were sent to congratulate his Arrival, and to acquaint him with the Situation of their Affairs; Mr. Watts having been released by the Nabob in July . Ten Days after the Squadron arrived at Fulta , where, without Loss of Time, Measures were concerted for retrieving the Honour of the English Nation, and restoring the Affairs of the Company. The Force was not great, but it was directed by Men of determined Courage, and of distinguished Capacities. Admiral Watson , and the Commander in Chief of the Land Forces, Colonel Clive , who, after performing Wonders in other Parts of the Indies , came to perform still greater Wonders here, and brought with him a Reputation that abundantly supplied the Want of Numbers. On the Twenty-eighth, the Fleet proceeded up the River. On the Twenty-ninth, Colonel Clive landed; and the very next Day, with the Assistance of the Squadron, made himself Master of the Fort of Busbudgia ; which, though a Place of great Strength, if it had been well defended, was taken with little Loss, and proved the happy Omen of all the mighty Things which afterwards followed.

On New-Year's-Day, 1757, some of his Majesty's Ships cannonaded the Batteries, which had been constructed by the Enemy for the Defence of Calcutta , where they had a considerable Force; and this with such Success, that when the Troops debarked, they were abandoned. On the Second, the English re-possessed themselves of their demolished Settlement; finding in the Fort, as they had done on the Batteries, a numerous Artillery left behind, by those, who had not either Skill or Courage to use them. After this Success, it was resolved to proceed up the River to Hughley , a very populous Town, full of Warehouses and Magazines; and in that, as well as other respects, a Place of Consequence; and so much the safer from our Naval Force, as it could not be reached by large Ships. On the Fifth, Captain Smith in the Bridgewater , and the Sloop of War, anchored within Reach, and fired warmly upon the Town; and being seconded by all the armed Boats in the Fleet, it was very soon reduced. The better to distress the Enemy, the more to alarm the Province, and to work upon the Suba's governing Passion, Fear; Orders were given, though with much Reluctance, for burning the Houses, and for destroying, particularly, all the Magazines on both Sides of the River; which Orders were very punctually executed, and thereby speedily produced the desired Effects.

Both Vice-Admiral Watson and Colonel Clive had written, towards the Close of the preceding Year, in as civil and polite Terms to the Suba, as the Circumstances of Things would allow, with a View to bring about a Treaty. But that Prince, who had an Army about him, and whose Resentments ran as high as ever, was either not inclined, or did not care to shew an Inclination, to come to any Terms. It was this, that made the Expedition to Hughley requisite; and upon the Loss of that, and the Supplies he had there, his Confidence immediately abated, and he condescended to answer the Letters, affirming that he had already written, but that he had Reason to believe, those Letters had not been delivered. Yet even now, when he found it was necessary to offer a Negotiation, and to express a Willingness to reinstate the Company in their Factories, he added, as if requisite to support his Character, that if the English thought they could reap greater Benefits by pursuing the War, they might still proceed in their military Operations; as if, by this Appearance of Indifference, he could conceal the Terror he was under, from what had already happened. To support this Air of Intrepidity, he made, at the same Time, a Motion with his Army towards Calcutta .

Colonel Clive having communicated these Proposals to the Select Committee, entrusted with the Management of the Affairs of the Factory, they sent Messieurs Walsh and Scrafton , as Deputies, to the Camp of the Suba, who, either deceived by this into an Opinion that he was still formidable to the English , or desirous of imposing upon the Deputies, behaved towards them with such a Mixture of Haughtiness and Contempt, as gave little Hopes of their making any great Progress in their Business; and therefore, after some Delay, the Vice-Admiral and the Colonel were obliged to resume their former Measures, and to think of making a fresh Impression on the Suba, that might convince him, he had as much to dread from the Land-Forces as the Fleet. In order to this, it was concerted, that a Detachment of Seamen, commanded by Captain Warwick , should land and join the Army, and that Colonel Clive should then force the Nabob's Camp. The Captain accordingly debarked, upon the Fifth of February , about One in the Morning: At Two they came up with the Forces, which were under Arms. By Three, every Thing was in Order, and they began to move towards the Enemy; the Sailors attending the Train, which consisted of Six Field Pieces, and one Haubitzer. About Five, the Action began, and the Artillery playing on the Right and Left, Colonel Clive marched his Troops directly through the Camp of the Suba; though he had between Forty and Fifty thousand Men, and obliged him, with great Loss, to dislodge, and even to abandon some of the Posts that he took after his Retreat; and this, with very little Detriment to his very small Army, not above Forty Men being killed, and not so many as Seventy wounded. This brisk Attack, seconded by a Letter from Vice-Admiral Watson , intimating, that this was a Specimen only of what the British Arms, when provoked, could perform, answered the Intention perfectly. The Suba immediately desired to renew the Negotiation, which went on with such Alacrity, that it was concluded and signed upon the Ninth, by which an end was put to a War, that had subsisted about Nine Months. This Treaty was conceived in the following Terms.