Advice was received from Colonel Smith, that the Mahrattas were in motion. It appeared that he was still unacquainted with the intended resignation of his officers. Lord Clive, however, in his answer[27] contemplating this act, authorised him to enter into alliance with the neighbouring princes; and, should he find himself reduced to the utmost extremity, but not otherwise, to make terms with the malecontents. The officers who had been sent forward by Lord Clive, on their arrival at Monghyr, endeavoured to impress those who had resigned with a sense of the enormity of their conduct; informing them that Lord Clive was coming, determined not to yield to them; and remarking strongly on their ingratitude towards a person who had lately given up 70,000l.[28], to form a fund for invalids and widows. The officers replied, that it was impossible for them now to retract. They stated that Sir R. Fletcher had never communicated to them Lord Clive's donation to the army; and concluded by accusing Sir Robert as the originator of the whole plan for resisting the orders of government. On the 13th of May, the European soldiers got under arms, intending to follow their officers; but the appearance of Captain Smith with the sepoy battalion restored order; and when Sir R. Fletcher addressed them, and distributed money among them, they informed him, that they had been assured that he was to head them; but as that was not the case, they would return to their duty. The officers offered to assist, but were ordered to quit the garrison immediately. On the 15th of May, Lord Clive arrived at Monghyr, and received the account of past proceedings from Sir R. Fletcher, who added, that he had known of the combination of the officers since January, and had seemed to approve of their schemes, that nothing might be done without his knowledge. It is here to be remarked, that the date of Sir Robert's letter, which first intimated any thing about the resignation of the officers, was the 25th of April. Whatever were Lord Clive's sentiments on this communication, he did not think fit either to express his dissatisfaction, or take any steps at the moment. Immediately on his arrival he addressed the soldiers, explaining the crime of their officers, and mentioning his own donation to the European part of the army. He ordered double pay to be issued to the native troops for May and June.
At Bankipore[29], where Sir Robert Barker commanded, neither officers nor men behaved in so violent a manner as at Monghyr. More of the officers remained with their corps, and there was no appearance of mutiny among the troops.
At Serajipoor, Colonel Smith, who was daily in expectation of a battle, was placed in a peculiarly difficult situation. On the 6th of May, all the officers in camp, except two, requested leave to resign, some immediately, and others from the first of June. The Colonel immediately ordered the first to proceed to Calcutta, and informed the latter that they should have an answer before the time they had fixed; remarking to both, that he should be obliged to place that confidence in the black troops which he had before their recent conduct reposed in the zeal of his own countrymen. The officers answered this, by complaining of the attempt to asperse their honour; to which Colonel Smith replied, that the first point of honour in a soldier was military obedience, and repeated his order, that all those who had offered to resign immediately should leave camp, and go to the presidency. Lieutenant Vertue having been refused permission to resign, and leaving his commission on Colonel Smith's table, was ordered into arrest, to be tried by a court-martial at Patna. The officers of the European regiment who were stationed at Allahabad declared their intention of setting out for Calcutta on the 20th of May, and behaved in so disorderly a manner, that Major Smith, who commanded that fortress, would have ordered them all into arrest, if he could have depended on the men; but, as there was some idea that the soldiers would assist the officers, he sent for an old battalion of sepoys, which had been long under his command. These troops having performed a march of one hundred and four miles from Serajipoor, in fifty-four hours, arrived in camp a few hours before the officers were on the point of leaving the garrison. With their assistance Major Smith compelled the officers to make apologies and submission for the insult they had offered to his authority, and he contented himself with sending off six to Calcutta. Colonel Smith at Serajipoor, pursuing the same vigorous measures, had secured tranquillity at that station, by sending half his officers to Calcutta.
On the 20th of May, Lord Clive arrived at Bankipore; many of the officers who had resigned still continuing to do duty were restored to their commissions. The officers who had been ordered to Calcutta having attempted to assemble on the road, and disturbance being apprehended, some detachments of sepoys were sent to compel them to continue their journey. The principal leaders of this mutinous opposition to authority being now arrested, and ordered to prepare for their trial, repentance and humiliation became general, the objects of the combination were defeated, their union and strength broken, and those who were restored were compelled to sign a contract to serve the Company for three years, and to give a year's notice of their intention to quit the service. Messrs. Duffield and Robertson of the third brigade, who were ringleaders, on being ordered to embark for England, protested against the order, and blockaded themselves in their houses till the ships for England left Calcutta; but, on their making their appearance, they were seized and sent off to Madras, and from thence to England.
Though there was no doubt of the assistance which the military derived from the civilians, yet from the precaution taken by the latter, of sending their letters by private posts in disguised hands, it was difficult to substantiate the charge against any individuals. Mr. Higginson, however, the sub-secretary to the Council, and Mr. Grindal in the secretary's office, having the charge brought home to them, were dismissed. Captain Stainforth, accused of having expressed a determination of assassinating Lord Clive, was tried and condemned to be cashiered. When authority was fully vindicated, as much lenity was shown by Lord Clive as was consistent with the public safety to those concerned in this combination. Out of six officers tried and found guilty of mutiny, not one was sentenced to death. A defect of the Mutiny Act for the East India Company's service, in omitting the contract between the officer and Company, might, it was thought by many, render the legality of the proceedings doubtful; and this inclined the members of the court-martial to mercy. Lieutenant Vertue, on this ground, refused to plead; nevertheless, he was put on his trial, condemned, and cashiered with infamy.
Sir Robert Fletcher, who was publicly accused by many of the officers who resigned, and more particularly by Captain Goddard[30], of having been the instigator of the whole plan, was tried by a court martial, found guilty, and cashiered. It appeared in evidence for the prosecution, that Sir Robert Fletcher was acquainted throughout with the design of the general resignation; and that he, in fact, proposed it, as a scheme by which the officers might recover their double batta.[31]
Such is the detail of a combination of officers, which threatened with the most imminent danger the newly established authority of the Company over the rich provinces of Bengal and Bahar. Never did Lord Clive display more prominently that superior knowledge of human nature, that intimate acquaintance with the feelings and motives of military men, or that firmness and decision by which alone those can be kept in subordination, than on this trying occasion. He never hesitated nor swerved from the resolutions he adopted on the first moment that he learnt the extent of the combination formed against the government. He was well supported by the members of the committee, of which General Carnac, commander of the troops, was a member; and with the conduct of the senior officer of the army, Colonel R. Smith, who commanded one of the brigades, as well as of Sir Robert Barker, who commanded another, he had every reason to be satisfied.
The high opinion he entertained of Sir R. Fletcher as a gallant officer, his apparent zeal and constant communications, long misled Lord Clive into a confidence on his co-operation, which, had he been a man of less talent and less prompt decision, would have occasioned a ruinous compromise of the public interests. But that and all the other evil consequences which this alarming combination threatened, were subdued by his presence, and by the personal display of that calm and unyielding courage, which, in military bodies, extorts, even from those it subdues, respect and admiration.
During these proceedings Clive's mind appears, from his whole correspondence, public and private, to have been resolutely fixed on the accomplishment of the objects for which he abandoned ease and affluence in his native country; namely, those of restoring discipline in the military, and order in the civil, branches of the service. But we are able to trace the motives under which he acted on this momentous occasion more minutely in his private than in his public communications. From his letters to General Carnac and others it is evident that Lord Clive cherished, even at the moment he was reducing them to obedience, the kindest feelings towards the officers of the Bengal army. In one to the General he makes some mild but judicious remarks upon the warm language which his friend had used in representing the discontent of the officers under his orders (prior to the combination) at their being superseded by Captain Macpherson, whom the Council-Board at Calcutta had admitted to the rank of captain in a mode which the Bengal officers deemed injurious to their interests. "I am concerned," Lord Clive observes in this letter[32], "at the warmth of your letter to the Board. Although they have used both you and me extremely ill, and, as individuals, deserved our utmost contempt, yet I think there is some indulgence due to their stations. That they have acted unjustly, as well as contrary to the known rules of the army, in the case of Captain Macpherson, cannot be doubted; yet I cannot think the officers ought to carry matters so far as to insist upon a Governor and Council retracting what they have done. There must be an absolute power lodged somewhere, and that certainly is in the hands of the Governor and Council, until the pleasure of the Court of Directors be known. However, if the account of Captain Macpherson is proved true, I will be answerable that he shall act as youngest of the corps he has been introduced to, and take care that no such unjust proceedings shall be countenanced in future. I hope this will prove satisfactory to the officers, who, by their gallant behaviour, are entitled to every mark of attention and distinction from the Company."