In the course of the same year he landed in England, after an absence of about ten years. His reception was most flattering. He was warmly welcomed by his parents and many near relations: the Court of Directors voted him a sword set with diamonds of the value of five hundred pounds, "as a token of their esteem, and of their sense of his singular services to the Company on the coast of Coromandel[69];" and in society he was honoured with those elevating marks of regard, which always attend a fortunate soldier. Though but a short time in his native country, he appears to have imbibed, or rather renewed, an attachment to it, and to have formed friendships and connections, which left him without any tie in India, but the fulfilment of the public duties he had to perform in that country, and the acquirement of sufficient fortune to maintain himself and family.
He had not enjoyed himself two years in England, when the state of affairs in India made the Court of Directors anxious for his presence in that country. He was appointed Governor of Fort St. David, with a provisional commission to succeed to the government of Madras; and the appointment was accompanied with the expression of their anxious desire that he should return as soon as possible to a country in which they deemed his services of the greatest importance. To obviate the quarrels about rank between the King's and Company's officers, which had often been attended with much obstruction to the service, the Directors applied to His Majesty's government, and obtained for him the commission of Lieutenant-Colonel in the British army; a very honourable distinction, as he was then but a young man, and only a Captain in their service.
He left England in 1755; but, instead of sailing direct to his new government, he proceeded to Bombay, where he landed on the 27th of November, with three companies of Royal Artillery and three hundred infantry, destined to form, in conjunction with the Mahrattas, part of a force for the attack of the French and their allies in the Deckan. When the project was first formed, it had been intended that he should command this force; and he was at the time the only man in the service from whose knowledge and experience success in such a scheme could reasonably have been anticipated. But we have on this occasion an early instance of the character of that interference of the King's government, which, when dictated by narrow considerations of patronage, must defeat every measure it proposes to promote. Colonel Scott, who had sailed for India the preceding year, in the quality of Engineer-General, was, at the powerful recommendation of the Duke of Cumberland, nominated to the command of this expedition. Nevertheless, the Directors wished Clive to proceed to Bombay, in the hope that some event might occur to defeat an appointment in which they had found themselves compelled to concur. It so happened, that Colonel Scott died before the troops arrived: but a provisional treaty had been entered into[70] between Mr. Saunders, the Governor of Madras, and Mr. Godeheu, the Governor of Pondicherry, by which, among other articles, it had been agreed, that neither the French nor English companies should take part in any differences arising between the princes of the country. In consequence of this convention, the government of Bombay refused to adopt any proceeding that could disturb the general peace of India; so that Clive lost the opportunity of opposing the celebrated Bussy on the plains of the Deckan.
Admiral Watson was lying at Bombay when Clive arrived; and the opportunity was thought excellent for employing the means which accident had left disposable, to punish the pirate Angria by the attack of Gheriah[71], one of his strongholds, which lies a little more than two degrees south of Bombay, and which derived its strength from the reputed courage of its defenders, and from its site upon a rocky promontory almost surrounded by the sea.
The expedition against Gheriah was undertaken in concert with the Mahrattas; but suspicions being entertained that the latter were in communication with Angria, operations were precipitated so as to preclude them from all share in the enterprise. The Admiral having attacked and burnt the fleet of the pirate, Clive interposed his force on the land side between the fort and the Mahratta general, who had hastened to co-operate. The place soon fell[72], and the booty (about ten lacs of rupees) was divided by the British forces, without admitting their allies to any participation. This had been settled before the expedition left Bombay, as well as the respective shares of prize-money to the officers and men. It is remarkable what attention was given at this time in India, even before operations were commenced, to adjust the relative claims to eventual booty. Councils of war were held, at which very junior officers aided, and arguments were entered into by the respective parties. The causes of this were various. Besides that spirit of plunder, and that passion for the rapid accumulation of wealth, which actuated all ranks, the undefined relations of the King's and Company's officers made such previous arrangements indispensable, to prevent those disputes, which, but for such precautions, must subsequently have occurred.
It is pleasing on this occasion to record the conduct of both the naval and military commanders. The naval officers, who formed the majority, had decreed that Lieutenant-Colonel Clive, though he commanded the land force, should only share in his army rank with a post-captain in the navy. The officers of the troops claimed for their commander an equal share with Rear-Admiral Pocock, the second in command in the navy. This pretension was stated by Clive to Admiral Watson. The latter, as jealous a defender of what he deemed the rights of the service to which he belonged, as he was careless of his own personal interest, rejected the claim, but told Clive he would make up from his own share the difference between the colonel's and that of Admiral Pocock. Nor was this mere profession. When the prize-money was paid, he sent the difference he had promised, but it was declined. Clive said his sole object had been to satisfy the troops that he had supported the rights of their commander: they had been pleased with the admiral's conduct, and he would "never enrich himself with money taken from Mr. Watson's personal share of the capture."[73]
As nothing further remained to be done on the western coast, Clive proceeded to Fort St. David[74], of which he took charge on the 20th June, 1756, the very day, by a remarkable coincidence, on which the Nabob of Bengal took Calcutta. Intelligence of that event was not received at Madras till the 16th of August; and on the 18th a despatch was sent to require the presence of Colonel Clive, it being in contemplation, in consequence of the state of General Lawrence's health, that he should proceed in command of the expedition destined to recover Calcutta, and re-establish the Company's affairs in Bengal.