On the 22nd March, 1755, James sailed from Bombay in the Protector, forty guns, having with him the Swallow, sixteen guns, the Viper bombketch, and the Triumph prahm. The following day, he sighted an Angrian squadron of seven grabs and eleven gallivats, which he chased for a couple of hours without success. Two days later, he was joined off Chaul by the Peishwa's fleet, consisting of seven grabs, two batellas, and about forty gallivats. To James's annoyance, he found his allies in no hurry to get on. Twice they insisted on landing, lingering for over three days in one place. On the 29th, Severndroog was sighted, and Angria's fleet of seven grabs and ten gallivats was observed coming out. The signal to chase was made, but obeyed with little alacrity by the Peishwa's people, though experience had shown that they could outsail the Bombay ships. James gave chase with his little squadron, his Mahratta allies being left, by evening, hull down, astern. The Angrians made prodigious exertions to escape, hanging out turbans and clothing to catch every breath of air. All the following day the ineffectual chase continued, the Protector outsailing its own consorts, and losing sight altogether of its Mahratta allies. Finding it useless to persevere, James hauled his wind, and stood to the northward for Severndroog, which he had left far behind in the chase. Here he found Ramajee Punt, who had landed a few men, and entrenched himself at about two miles from the nearest fort, with a single four-pounder gun.
The harbour of Severndroog[1] is formed by a slight indentation in the coast and a small rocky islet about a quarter of a mile from the mainland, on which was the Severndroog fort, with walls fifty feet high, and, in many places, parapets cut out of the solid rock; the whole armed with about fifty guns. On the mainland, opposite to Severndroog, was another fort. Fort Gova, armed with, about forty-four guns, while southwards of Gova were two smaller forts on a small promontory, Futteh Droog and Kanak Droog, armed with twenty guns each.
James at once saw that the reduction of the different forts by the Peishwa's troops would be a matter of months, even if he was able to keep out succours from the sea, which the monsoon would render impossible; so, in spite of the Council's orders, he resolved on taking matters into his own hands. He had been brought up in a good school, and knew that, to match a ship against a fort with success, it was necessary to get as close as possible, and overpower it with weight of metal. After taking the necessary soundings, on the 2nd April he stood in to four-fathom water, taking with him the Viper and Triumph, and bombarded Severndroog fort. The Mahratta fleet gave no assistance, so the Swallow was detached to guard the southern entrance. All day long the cannonade continued, till a heavy swell setting into the harbour, in the evening, obliged a cessation of fire. The fort fired briskly in return, but did little damage; while the Mahratta fleet lay off out of range, idle spectators of the conflict. At night came Ramajee Punt on board the Protector, bringing with him a deserter from the fort, who reported that the Governor had been killed and a good deal of damage done. He told them that it was impossible to breach the side on which the Protector's fire was directed, as it was all solid rock.
In the morning, the Protector weighed and ran in again, James placing his ships between Severndroog and Gova. The flagship engaged Severndroog so closely that, by the small arm fire of men in the tops, and by firing two or three upper-deck guns at a time instead of in broadsides, the Severndroog gunners were hardly able to return a shot. With her lower-deck guns on the other side the Protector cannonaded the mainland forts, which also received the attention of the Viper and Triumph. It would be difficult to find a parallel to this instance of a single ship and two bombketches successfully engaging four forts at once, that far outnumbered them in guns; but so good were James's arrangements that neither his ships nor his men suffered harm. Soon after midday a magazine exploded in Severndroog; the conflagration spread, and, before long, men, women, and children were seen taking to their boats, and escaping to the mainland. Numbers of them were intercepted and taken by the Swallow and the Mahratta gallivats. The bombardment of the mainland forts was continued till night, and resumed the following morning, till about ten o'clock, when all three hauled down their colours. Thus, in forty-eight hours, did James by his vigorous action reduce this Angrian stronghold that was second only to Gheriah in strength. The Mahrattas were never slow at seizing any advantage that had been won by others, as was shown a few months later at Gheriah; but on this occasion they were so struck by James's intrepidity that they refused to enter Gova without him. The English flag was hoisted in all three forts, amid the cheers of the English sailors. It was then found that, by mismanagement, the Governor of Gova had been allowed to escape over to Severndroog, and gallantly reoccupied it, with a small body of sepoys, hoping to hold out till assistance could reach him from Dabul. So the Protector's guns were set to work again, and, under cover of their fire, a party of seamen was landed, who hewed open the sally port with their axes and made themselves masters of the fort. Thus, in a few hours, and without losing a single man, had "the spirited resolution of Commodore James destroyed the timorous prejudices which had for twenty years been entertained of the impracticability of reducing any of Angria's fortified harbours."
The whole success of the expedition had been due to James, and the Peishwa's officers ungrudgingly acknowledged the fact, as well as the bad behaviour of their own people. "I have learnt with particular satisfaction that the fleet your Honor sent to the assistance of Ramajee Punt have by their courage and conduct reduced Severndroog, the suddenness of which transcends my expectations; and I allow myself incapable of sufficiently commending their merit," wrote the Peishwa's Commander-in-Chief to Bourchier. Ramajee Punt wrote in similar terms, and sent a dress of honour to James. In their elation, the Peishwa's officers wished to complete the destruction of Angria without delay. Bankote was surrendered to them without firing a shot, and a demonstration was made against Rutnaghiri. But the Council was cautious, and forbade James to risk his ships. The Mahrattas offered him two lakhs of rupees if he would support them in attacking Dabul, but he dared not exceed his orders again, and returned to Bombay. The success of a second coup-de-main could not be relied on, and a repulse would have restored Toolajee's drooping spirits, and made future success more difficult. The soldiers Bombay had lent to Madras were no longer required, so James was sent there in the Protector, to bring them back after the monsoon.
In the end of October, an unexpected accession of force, from England, reached Bombay. In the suspension of arms that had been concluded at Madras between the English and French, Carnatic affairs alone were made the subject of agreement. Bussy, with a French force, remained in the Deccan, engaged in extending the Nizam's influence, a proceeding that was viewed with alarm by the Peishwa. With the object of expelling the French from the Deccan, the English Government sent out to Bombay a force of seven hundred men, to act against Bussy, in concert with the Mahratta Government. The command was to be taken by Lieutenant-Colonel Scott, the Company's engineer-general at Madras. The Directors had also sent Clive to Bombay to act as second in command to Scott. But Scott had died, in the mean time, and the Doddington, East Indiaman, bringing the Directors' instructions to the Bombay Council, had been wrecked near the Cape. Before the middle of November, Watson's squadron arrived, in furtherance of the Deccan project, together with James, in the Protector, bringing two hundred and fifty-five Bombay soldiers from Madras. Clive, alone, knew of the Directors' plan for the Deccan, and urged it on the Council. Ramajee Punt was in Bombay urging them to complete the destruction of Angria, and inviting them to take possession of Bankote;[2] so they decided to devote themselves to Gheriah, on the grounds that the Deccan expedition would be an infringement of the late agreement with the French.
Seeing that nothing was to be done in the Deccan, Watson tendered the services of his squadron to assist in the reduction of Gheriah, and Clive offered to command the land forces. James was sent down in the Protector, with the Revenge and Guardian, with Sir William Hewitt, Watson's flag lieutenant, to reconnoitre and take soundings. Nothing was known of Gheriah. It was supposed to be as high, and as strong as Gibraltar. Like that celebrated fortress, it stood on rocky ground at the end of a promontory, connected with the mainland by a narrow neck of ground, at the month of a small estuary. James found that it was less formidable than it had been represented, and that large ships could go close in. To prevent Toolajee's ships from escaping, the Bridgewater, Kingsfisher, and Revenge were sent to blockade the place till the expedition was ready to start.
On the 11th February, the whole force was assembled off Gheriah, a greater armament than had yet ever left Bombay harbour. In addition to Watson's squadron of six vessels, four of them line-of-battle ships, and displaying the flags of two admirals, the Company's marine made a brave show of eighteen ships, large and small, carrying two hundred and fourteen guns, besides twenty fishing-boats to land troops with, each carrying a swivel-gun in the bows. Between them they carried eight hundred European and six hundred native troops. With Watson also went Captain Hough, superintendent of the Company's marine, as representative of the Council.
Part of the instructions given to Clive and Hough by the Council will bear repeating.
"It is probable that Toolajee Angria may offer to capitulate, and possibly offer a sum of money; but you are to consider that this fellow is not on a footing with any prince in the known world, he being a pirate in whom no confidence can be put, not only taking, burning, and destroying ships of all nations, but even the vessels belonging to the natives, which have his own passes, and for which he has annually collected large sums of money. Should he offer any sum of money it must be a very great one that will pay us for the many rich ships he has taken (which we can't enumerate), besides the innumerable other smaller vessels; but we well remember the Charlotte bound from hence to China, belonging to Madras; the William belonging to Bombay, from Bengal; the Severn, a Bengal freight ship for Bussorah, value nine or ten lakhs of rupees; the Derby belonging to the Hon'ble Company, with the Grab Restoration, value Rs.5,22,743-4-6; the sloop Pilot and the Augusta; also the Dadaboy from Surat, Rose from Mangalore, Grab Anne from Gombroon, Benjimolly from the Malabar coast, and Futte Dowlat from Muscat."