Page:History of the French in India.djvu/425

BRENNIER AND LAWRENCE. 399 ception and attack of Major Lawrence, who, he heard, °^ :p ' was escorting a large convoy of provisions from his - . '-, camp near Tanjur into TrichinapalK. It was of the 1753. utmost consequence to the French that this movement should not succeed. Accordingly, on the morning of the 18th August, Brennier moved from his camp, and took up an ex- tended position stretching from Waikanda on the south-west to the French Rock on the south-east of the city — the points the French occupied in force being Waikanda itself, next to that the Golden Rock — the scene of the defeat of Astruc, but of which in the absence of Lawrence they had taken possession ; — the Sugarloaf Rock, distant about a mile and a half from it, and the French Rock. Their infantry and artillery were strongly posted at the Golden and Sugarloaf Rocks ; the space between the Golden Rock and the French Rock was rilled by swarms of cavalry ; there was a small detachment at Elmiseram ; Waikanda was held by sipahis, the intervening spaces being filled by masses of irregular troops, whose line stretched even to the banks of the Kavari. In this position, occupying all the strong posts, Brennier believed he could inter- cept and destroy the English force, burdened as it was with a large convoy. But the English had advantages that he knew not of. It was true that their force was burdened with a con- voy, but it was not less so that whilst encamped near Tanjur, Lawrence had received a reinforcement not only of 5,000 Tanjurians, but of 170 Europeans, and 300 sipahis from Fort St. David. But that was not all. By means of the high tower in the centre of the city, Dalton was able to observe all the movements of the French, and to communicate them to Lawrence. This he did not fail to do on the present occasion. The English leader marched to the attack, therefore, not only at the head of a body of Europeans considerably