That’s a famous thought in spired by S. Muthiah, who had once wondered as to what if the temperamental Frenchman of Irish origin, Comte de Lally, had succeeded in defeating the ­English in 1761 with his last brilliant throw as he burst out of a beleaguered Pondi­cherry. If only he had succeeded on that fateful day, this article would have been telling you, in French, that Lally was France’s greatest general!

Comte de Lally of Tollendal

Who then was this fascinating character who has his name inscribed on the Arc de Triom­phe in Paris and has his name remem­bered in a street in ­Pon­di­­cherry?

Thomas-Arthur de Lally, Baron de Tollendal, a general in the French army, was sent to India during the Seven Years War that broke out in 1756 ­bet­ween England and France. He belonged to a distinguished family, the O’Mullallys, one of the old noble families of Ireland. His father, Gerard Lally, fled to France following the Treaty of Limerick, together with his dethroned Catholic king, James II. In time he ­became the colonel of the ­regiment of Dillon. Later, he married Anne de Bressac, who was from an aristocratic French family. To them was born ­Thomas-Arthur in 1702.

Following the French military custom of the time, he joined his father’s regiment as a private. When he was seven years old, his father brought him a Captain’s uniform of Dillon’s Regiment – and a commission! ‘The boy loved to parade wearing his uniform, but his father was determined that he should not hold his commission without being given a taste of actual service. Lally, therefore, started spending his holidays with his father in the French camp. At nine, he was present at the siege and capture of Geronaso – to “smell the gun powder,” as his father said. Three years later, he mounted guard in the trenches at Barcelona. He was then packed off to college after this “holiday recreation”. And there he proved a good student.

His father’s influence having inspired in Thomas-Arthur an intense hatred of the English, he joined the Irish Brigade in 1718 but, when made Captain, moved to the regiment of Dillon. There he planned a Jacobite uprising, to restore the Stuart Kings to their throne and challenge the House of Han­over. His plans never mate­ria­lised, but he made a name for himself on the battlefields of Europe. By 1749 he was a ­Major-General and a Hero of France.

For seven years after the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1749) that concluded the last war, Europe remained at peace. But soon hostilities ensued again between France and England over their rival claims in North America. In June 1756 war was finally declared and France decided to send a force to the East. Despite differences of opinion over giving Lally independent charge, Lally was promoted Lieutenant General and sent to Pondi­cherry, as much to take on the British as to purge the Pondi­cherry government of the rampant corruption that prevailed there.

The French Government promised Lally the equivalent of 6 million pounds and three thousand men. But from the very beginning he was doomed to disappointment. He had requested a single command over land and sea and wanted his own man as his engineer and financial controller. The Government did not accede to any of his requests.

The fleet was given to Count d’Aché, a man who would turn out to be Lally’s nemesis. D’Aché was a good sailor, but opinionated and intractable. He was also a man of extreme caution and would ultimately paralyse Lally. For his as engineer and financial controller, Lally was given a person who was technically sound but not a man of combat. Finally, of the promised money, only 4 million pounds were given. Lally, determined to be made a Marshal of France, went ahead despite these shortcomings.

Lally in Pondicherry.

After many false starts, Lally set sail in May 1757 and, after a long and tedious voyage, disembarked in Pondicherry at the end of April 1758. The voyage had taken almost a year thanks to d’Aché’s doubts and capriciousness. The English squadron which had sailed three months later reached the Coromandel Coast at the same time.

The authorities in Pondi­cherry ordered a gun salute in Lally’s honour. By some strange mischance, the guns set apart for firing the salute were loaded with live ammunition. Five shots went through the Comte de Provence with Lally on board and this was immediately regarded as a bad omen by the sai­lors who were by nature extre­mely superstitious.

The news on the ground was also not encouraging. Chander­nagore and Mahé had fallen to the English. Nevertheless, Lally, eager for action after months of enforced inactivity, ignored the fact that de Leyritt, the Governor of Pondicherry, could give him neither information nor any financial assistance, and marched to Cuddalore where he invested Fort St. David and took it on June 2nd without Aché’s support.

Though this first expedition had been successful, Lally, with his hasty temper and sharp tongue, had managed to anta­go­nise everyone. Impatient with the practice of the caste system – for him it was just an excuse to ­escape from doing work and he had Brahmins carry on their heads loads of materials that then were forbidden to touch. They were also teamed with the men of the lower castes. For the lack of money, he kept castigating the Pondi­cherry officials. He refused to hide his feelings and expressed himself freely in words that people did not ­forgive or forget. He was, thus, detested by the natives and the Europeans alike in Pondicherry.

Madras was ideally the next target and Lally would have probably succeeded if it had not been for the lack of finance and the unwillingness of d’Aché to launch an attack on the English fleet stationed between Madras and Pondicherry. So, Lally ­decided to attack Tanjore on the advice of a Jesuit priest.

He marched south with a large force, short of transport, ammunition and food. With the men starving, they plundered a temple but found only paddy. Then, at Tiruvallur, he mistook six Brahmins for spies and had them attached to cannons and blown. Then when he was ready for an assault, news arrived that Karaikal was in danger from the English. Lally changed course to take on the besiegers. In Karai­kal, he resolved to besiege ­Madras. But once again he was let down by d’Aché. When the French fleet was worsted in a skirmish with the English, d’ Ache sailed for Mauritius in early September.

Undaunted by being left without sea power, Lally continued to make plans to attack ­Madras. He recalled the Mar­quis of Bussy from the Deccan, advanced money from his own pocket to meet the ­expenses of the army, and set off for Madras.

Lally and his troops arrived on the outskirts of Madras on December 14th and quickly ­occupied Black Town, but after that things went from bad to worse. Desertions multiplied because the soldiers were not paid. There was hardly any food and Lally, instead of being a hero to his men, became a hated commander. Progress was also hindered by the incompetency of the engineer de Durre who took ages to open up a breach in the right place. This was finally done and the assault was planned for the following day. At daybreak, English ships were sighted in the Bay to the dismay of Lally and he was forced to raise the siege and return to Pondicherry.

In Pondicherry, the news of his failure caused rejoicing, he was so hated.

In the meantime, Conflans, who had replaced Bussy in the north, suffered total defeat and capitulated to the English. The local Subedar, Salabat Jung, greatly discouraged, immediately sign­ed a treaty with the English and refused any help to the French. Lally’s last hope depended on the return of the fleet from Mauritius. D’Aché did in fact return, but stayed for just two days. He landed a small contingent of men and gave some money and sailed away never to return to the Indian seas.

Meanwhile, the English ­received reinforcements led by Sir Eyre Coote. On November 19th Wandiwash was taken by the English army. To counter this, Lally resolved to retake Wandi­wash. Lally divided his army into two. Placing himself at the head of one part of it, he marched to Conjeevaram, plundered the town for provisions for the army and moved on to Tripatore the next day. On getting this news, Coote immediately rushed to Conjeevaram, which was the effect Lally had hoped to obtain. Leaving Bussy behind in Tripatore, Lally marched on Wandiwash.

The plan was bold and ­feasible and if well executed bore all the marks of success. The idea was to take the town surrounding the fort and attempt a breach before the English came back. But Durre with his usual dilatory ways took more than a week to make the breach and establish a battery, by which time the English were back.

Battle was inevitable. Lally hastened to draw up his men in a single line. Seizing an opportune moment he decided to charge with his cavalry. To his utter dismay not a single man followed him. When he finally induced a group to charge, the delay had given the English the time to set up their canons and the cavalry fell back, leaving the General alone in the field. Lally then galloped towards the infantry in the centre. Eager for action and regardless of the fire which was rained upon them, the French column advanced and broke a part of the English line. The unbroken part of the English line quickly formed up on its flank and soon there was one to one combat. At this time occurred a most unfortunate incident. Lally’s pivotal position was on the extreme left and was supported by an entrenchment on the other side. By sheer mischance, an English cannon-ball landed in the entrenchment causing an explosion and the troops were forced to run abandoning their guns. The entren­chment was immediately taken by the English.

By May 1,1760 the French were confined to the limits of Pondicherry and the place was invested by land and by sea. But what could a single man do against a whole town? The enemies were within the walls of Pondicherry and not without. But Lally battled on.

He planned one last bold stroke to rid himself of the besieging enemy. His plan was that while his right column surprised the English from the front, the left column stationed on the other side of the river Ariankuppam should cross and attack the enemy from its rear. Inexplicably, the left column, instead of attacking from the rear, came between the assaulting column and the town and the sandwich could not be completed. There was nothing to stop Coote from pressing the French against the walls of Pondi­cherry.

Pondicherry surrendered unconditionally on January 16, 1761. Lally was sent to Madras and then on to England as a prisoner-of-war. In London, he came to hear of the terrible things that were being said about him in France and asked to be released on parole. On his return he found that all of France had been stirred to its depths by the loss of the French Indies. The entire Council of Pondicherry, all the employees of the French East India Company, and literally every man who had lived in Pondicherry had contrived to stir up feeling against Lally. The public bayed for his blood. He was accused of treason and peculation and tyrannical administration.

In the face of this public outcry, Lally was advised to escape when he could. But so comple­tely did he believe in his innocence that he refused and said he was prepared to face all char­ges before the tribunals. He voluntarily surrendered himself and was imprisoned in the Bastille. The trial lasted three long years and Lally was refused an advocate since it was a char­ge of treason. As reward for 55 years of service he was convict­ed of betraying the interests of the King and sentenced to dea­th. On May 9, 1766 he was put in a dung cart, gagged and ignominiously led to the scaffold. The public clapped till the end.

Years later, Lally’s son Trophime-Gerard, assisted by Voltaire, got the case reopened. Louis XVI, eager to show a spirit of reform, set aside the 1766 decree and, in effect, ­exonerated Lally.