Since the renewal of war by Angria, at the beginning of the year, Boone had resolved to strike another blow against Gheriah, and all through the monsoon preparations had been made for action in September. Great things were expected of the Phram, which was, however, not ready when the expedition sailed. The direction of affairs was, on this occasion, entrusted to Mr. Walter Brown, who was styled for the occasion "Admiral of the Fleet, and Commander-in-Chief of all the forces." On the 13th September anchor was weighed, and on the morning of the 19th they arrived off Gheriah. At Dabul, where they had called in for news, they learned that the Phram and the Chandos might soon be expected, but that there was no prospect of Captain Johnson's machine being ready to take part in the expedition. What Captain Johnson's machine was we do not learn, but the intelligence 'mightily disconcerted the soldiery.' The squadron consisted of the London, which acted as flagship, the Victory frigate, the Revenge and Defiance grabs, the Hunter galley, two gallivats, a bombketch, a fireship, and a number of fishing-boats for landing troops. The troops for the expedition consisted of 350 soldiers and topasses and 80 chosen sepoys. Brown appears to have been thoroughly incompetent for such a command, and the undertaking was destined to add one more to the dismal list of failures. His first act was to make the London exchange useless shots with the fort at a mile distance. The following day, the bombketch was ordered to run close in within pistol-shot, and bombard the place at night. One shell and one carcass were fired, neither of which went halfway, by reason of the mortars being so faultily constructed that the chambers could not contain a sufficient charge of powder. 'This misfortune set the people a-grumbling.'
On the 21st, Brown held a consultation of his officers, and proposed to land three hundred men, at night, a mile from the town, so as to surprise it at daylight. The officers protested against the scheme; they justly remarked that it would be folly to make such an attack before the arrival of the whole force. The Phram and the Chandos, with the platoons of Europeans, were still to come. They represented that the garrison of the fort alone was a thousand strong, to say nothing of the small walled town which must be taken before the fort could be attacked. Such a proposal was not likely to increase their confidence in Brown. Sickness had already set in among the troops, and that evening Captain Jeremiah Easthope died of fever. Brown was all for immediate action, without having any definite plan.
On the 22nd, Gordon was ordered to land with fifty men, and occupy a small building on the top of a hill on the north side of the river. What he was expected to do there does not appear. Soon, a number of boats full of men were observed crossing from the fort to engage Gordon, so a reinforcement of fifty men was sent to him. On reaching the hill, Gordon found that what had been taken for a building consisted only of a natural pile of loose stones, such as are to be frequently seen on the Deccan hills, and there was nothing for it but to re-embark. He managed his retreat to the landing-place in good order, followed by the enemy at musket-shot distance. Several times he faced about, but the enemy always shrank from close quarters. Nothing had been done to cover the place of embarkation, and it was only after the strongest remonstrances from those on board that Brown was prevailed on to order the Revenge and the Hunter to stand in and cover the re-embarkation of Gordon's party. In spite of this precaution, a lieutenant, a sergeant, a quartermaster of the London and six men were killed, and about twenty men wounded. It is difficult to imagine anything feebler and more aimless than the whole proceeding.
The next day the bombketch was again sent in to bombard the fort, with the same result as before. The proceedings were enlivened by the punishment of Sergeant Passmore, who was reported by Gordon for cowardly behaviour. He was sent round the fleet to receive ten lashes alongside each ship. The next three days were spent in idleness, awaiting the Phram, from which so much was expected. On board ship there was no discipline, but plenty of hard drinking. In order to make the men fight well, Brown's idea was to supply them with unlimited rum: the officers kept pace with the men in their libations, and what little discipline existed soon disappeared. Orders were disobeyed, while drunkenness, violence, and insubordination reigned unchecked. When remonstrances were addressed to Brown, he refused to stop the supply of liquor, saying that the people must not be put out of humour at this juncture, and they must drink as they pleased: all which is duly recorded by Captain Upton of the London. The enemy meanwhile was observed busily constructing new batteries, and boats full of armed men were constantly crossing the river, but nothing was done to intercept them.
At last, the Chandos, Pelham, and Phram arrived, having spent ten days in their voyage from Bombay. Nothing better occurred to Brown than to send the Phram at once to engage the fort. On opening fire, it was found that her ports were so low and the gun-carriages so high, that her guns could only be fired when depressed so as to strike the water twenty yards off. So she was brought out again with one man mortally wounded, and the officers and soldiers so mightily discouraged that they declared, unless she could be made serviceable, it was useless to attempt anything further. The ships' carpenters were set to work on the Phram, while the dejection and drinking increased. Fifty men of the Chandos who had not yet had an opportunity of gauging Brown's incapacity, volunteered, for forty rupees a head, to join a landing party; but not a single seaman in the squadron would consent, 'upon any consideration whatsoever,' to go on board the Phram, till an increased bounty secured the services of the Chandos' sailors.
By the 29th all was ready for the grand attack. Two landing parties, one of three hundred and forty soldiers under Captain Stanton, and the other of two hundred and thirty-seven seamen under Captain Woodward, were held in readiness, and soon after midday the fleet stood into the inner harbour, with the exception of the Phram, which engaged the fort from the outer harbour. Lieutenant Wise had been selected as a fit person to command and point the Phram's guns, which he did so badly that his shot mostly fell in the inner harbour. The Mahrattas were quite ready for them, and all the afternoon the cannonade went on, till sunset put an end to it. Five men on board the Phram were wounded, but it had engaged at too great a distance to do or suffer much harm. Brown, in the London, had kept out of action, and contented himself with sending six dozen of wine and arrack to the men on board the Phram, together with orders to Stanton, who was on board, to warp into the harbour at night and renew the action next morning. The following day firing recommenced, and it was found necessary to displace Lieutenant Wise, he being continually drunk, and to allow the sailors to point their own guns. The closer range caused numerous casualties on board the Phram. Among the soldiers, Mr. Tuladay and four men were killed, and a great number wounded. The seamen also had several killed and wounded. Many of the casualties were caused by the bursting of a gun on board the Phram. The explosion fired the gun on the opposite side of the deck, which was loaded with grape, and pointing over a boat full of topasses. The flame from the gun ignited their cartridge boxes, and the poor wretches were terribly scorched and injured. The fire of the ships in the inner harbour was successful in destroying a number of Angria's ships that had sought refuge in the river; one of five hundred tons, one of two hundred tons, and ten smaller ones were set on fire and burnt. By nightfall, all hands thought they had done enough, and told Stanton so, and in spite of Brown's messages of expostulation, they took advantage of a land breeze to come out. At midnight came Captain Woodward, of the Revenge, to report, in a panic, to Brown that he had left his ship on the rocks close to the fort, and that both vessel and crew were as good as lost. Half an hour after, the Revenge was seen coming out with the other vessels. She had not been ashore at all, and the only conclusion was that Woodward was frightened out of his senses; so he was put in irons for his cowardice.
Thus came to an end the grand attack, and nothing better was to be expected. "I have continual disturbances in the ship dayly by the officers excessive drinking, and noe manner of command carryed," wrote Captain Upton, of the London. A few days later he records how Captain S. and Mr. D.[4] fought with their fists in the roundhouse before Mr. Brown, who took no notice of it.
The next few days were spent in repairing damages. While thus employed, messengers came from the Kempsant, offering to join hands with the English in attacking Angria. A quarrel had arisen between the two chiefs, owing to Angria having plundered some of the Kempsant's ships. But he stipulated that Angria's fort at Deoghur, seven leagues to the south, should be first attacked; so, on the 7th October, part of the fleet was sent down to reconnoitre.
On the 16th, fresh stores of arrack, water and provisions having been received from Goa, Brown called a consultation of the officers on board the Addison, and proposed another landing under the Phrams guns. But the officers were disheartened, undisciplined, and under no control. One objection after another was raised, and the council of war came to an end by other officers of the squadron, who had learned what was going on, coming aboard, and conveying to Brown in no measured terms that they would have nothing to do with it. One of them in a passion told Brown he was mad, and did not know what he was about—which was true enough. The next day, a foolish show of landing was made, and then Brown decided to abandon the attempt and transfer his attack to Deoghur.
Deoghur, or, as it was sometimes called, Tamana, was one of the ten principal forts ceded to Angria in 1713. It commanded the small but good harbour formed by the Tamana river. This was Angria's southernmost stronghold. The name Tamana is still to be found at a small place ten miles up the river. Here Brown brought his squadron on the 18th October. The usual desultory and harmless bombardment followed; the Phram and the bombketch being equally inefficient. Then, when Brown suggested a landing party to storm the place, the officers refused to second him, and so, with some additional loss, the attack on Deoghur came to an end. Not a word is said as to any assistance rendered by the Kempsant. At daybreak on the 21st, the whole squadron sailed northward, but the tale of Brown's incompetency was not complete.