The Nineteenth and Their Times. J. Biddulph
same letter[11] to the Court of Directors in which they announced the supersession of Stuart, and their intention to give the command to Burgoyne, they wrote—
“Sir John Burgoyne expecting a Preference to be given to his men in point of accommodations and every other respect above all other Corps of His Majesty’s or the Company’s troops, and making no allowance for the calamities of the times and the Exigencies of our situation, has been loud and frequent in his complaints, and the utmost endeavours on our Part to show attention to himself as well as to his Regiment have fallen short of the sense he entertained of the claims of both.”
In another part of the same letter they stated that Burgoyne had claimed to be a Major General, but they had only his word for it, as the fact had not been notified to them. Yet, in the Directors’ letter of 25th January 1782, Burgoyne’s rank as Major General in the East Indies from 1st June 1781, is precisely stated.
Burgoyne was justifiably angry at the treatment his regiment had experienced. Nothing had been done by the Madras Government to have horses in readiness for the regiment on arrival. The quarters in which the men were first placed were so unhealthy, that by the middle of July, less than nine months after landing, 78 had died. His own claims to the rank and allowances of a Major General were challenged; while, in common with all the senior officers of King’s troops, he was exasperated by the animus displayed against them by Lord Macartney and the Council, and the openly avowed intention to ignore their just claims, in defiance of the intentions of the Crown. In a letter, dated 3rd September 1783, in which he reports to the Ministry at home, the fact of his having assumed the command of the army returning from Cuddalore, he dwells on the grievances of the King’s General officers, especially “the declaration of the Governor, who says no King’s officer shall ever Command in Chief here, let his rank be what it may; and that a junior officer in the Company’s service should have rank given him superior to what any King’s officer may have to entitle him to command.” It is evident that the violent measures shortly afterwards taken by Lord Macartney, were in pursuance of a long contemplated scheme for getting rid of the King’s General officers.
From the beginning, Stuart had been quarrelsome and unreasonable in his dealings with the rest of the Council. The Council complained loudly of the slowness of his advance on Cuddalore. For this he does not appear to have been responsible, as the delay was caused by his having to wait for the squadron and store ships which did not arrive before Cuddalore till after the army had encamped before the place. Among other causes of quarrel was the desire of the General to give effect to the views of the Bengal Government in the affairs of the Nawab of Arcot; views which were strenuously opposed by the rest of the Council. Soon after the return of the army to Madras the Council passed a resolution dismissing Stuart from the service, and conferring the Commander in Chiefship on Burgoyne. On the 17th September this was announced to Burgoyne, who was addressed as Commander in Chief, and requested to attend the Council immediately. In a General order of the same date, the Council, anticipating objections, justified their action by arguing that Stuart held only a half pay commission from the King, and that the Company could do as they pleased with him as he held no position under the Crown in India.
As Burgoyne entered the Fort a salute was fired from the ramparts, but he at once informed the Council that, while they could dispose of the command of the Company’s forces as they pleased, he had no power to supersede Stuart who held the King’s commission of Major General, and the command of the King’s troops de jure, and, so long as he was able to act, could only be deprived of his command by the King’s order. On this he was told that, if he did not accept the command, it was intended to make Lieutenant Colonel Lang a Company’s officer, a Lieutenant General, and appoint him Commander-in-Chief. Burgoyne continued firm in his resolve, but was detained till 8 in the evening on various pretexts. Meanwhile, without his knowledge, arrangements were made for Stuart’s arrest, and a letter was sent to Lieutenant Colonel Lang appointing him Commander-in-Chief of the army with the rank of Lieutenant General. The order issued a few hours previously, appointing Burgoyne Commander-in-Chief, was ignored as if it had never existed. Burgoyne was then told that he might retire. On leaving the Council room, he found the gates closed and the drawbridges drawn up, and learned that Stuart had been arrested by a company of sepoys, in his own house, and brought, a close prisoner, into the Fort, under circumstances of much indignity. The excuse afterwards assigned by the Select Committee for this extraordinary proceeding was, that they believed Stuart was about to seize the Government by force.
On the following day Burgoyne wrote to the Select Committee, expressing his intention of taking command of the King’s troops, since Stuart was incapacitated from acting. He received no reply, and, on arrival at the camp he found two orders, one constituting Lang a Lieutenant General, and the other directing Lang to take command of the whole army; thus superseding Burgoyne and four other Major Generals and several Lieutenant Colonels, who had been senior to Lang.
Burgoyne at once assembled the King’s Officers in his tent, and related to them what had passed. For his own part, he said, he should consider himself wanting in his duty, to pay obedience to any other than a senior officer of the King’s appointment: that General Stuart being deprived of the possibility of acting, the command of the King’s troops devolved on himself. He did not attempt to bias the opinions of any of the gentlemen present: he recommended the avoidance of altercation or even discussion with the Company’s officers, lest unforeseen consequences might ensue. The officers present said they would obey no orders but those of the Commander-in-Chief representing the King, viz.: Sir John Burgoyne.
The same afternoon Lang arrived in camp, and met the King’s officers in Burgoyne’s tent, where he delivered an order from the Council instructing Burgoyne to surrender the command of the Army to him. Burgoyne replied that he would give over the command of the Company’s troops to whomsoever the Council chose to appoint, but that his duty to the King required that he should not deliver over the command of the King’s troops to any person not regularly authorized by His Majesty: he placed his tents at Colonel Lang’s service. Lang replied that he had a house at the Mount, and remained silent some time, till, on the officers calling out that they would obey Sir John Burgoyne only, he got up and went away. On the same day a letter was addressed to the Admiral by Sir John, asking for advice and support, and requesting an asylum on board the flag ship, in the event of any attempt being made on his person. The Admiral was so situated that he might have discreetly acted as mediator between the contending parties had he been so disposed; but, perhaps, his previous experiences of the Madras Council made him unwilling to be mixed up in the quarrel. Anyhow, he refused to have anything to do with the matter.
Very little was needed to produce a conflict between the King’s and Company’s troops that night. The King’s troops had been exasperated at the animosity displayed by the Council towards Sir Eyre Coote and the King’s officers in general. They were alarmed at the violence offered to General Stuart, and were resolved to repel by force any repetition of this violence in Burgoyne’s case. In order to prevent surprise, guards were posted round the Camp. The Council, on their part, had been haunted all along by the idea that the King’s Officers aimed at subverting the Government. Two battalions of Bengal Sepoys with some guns were ordered down to protect Lang’s house, and the gates of the Fort were kept shut. Each party expected to be attacked, and, for the next forty-eight hours, a very slight occurrence might have precipitated a disastrous conflict.
The following day, Burgoyne summoned Major Generals Bruce, Campbell, Ogle, and Adams to confer with him, and a remonstrance, signed by the five, was drawn up and forwarded to the Council; to the effect that they were determined not to act under Lang’s orders. Lang had meanwhile issued orders for the Army to march on the following day, in order to test their obedience. Lieut. Colonel Floyd was also senior to Lang by the date of his commission. Several regiments gave assurances of support to Burgoyne and Floyd. At a conference of the senior officers a course of action was determined on, and Burgoyne withdrew from the camp, at midnight, to his house in Madras. The vedettes round the camp were at once withdrawn. The next morning, Floyd likewise withdrew from the army; handing over his command to Lt. Colonel Mackenzie of the 73rd, who was junior to Lang by date of commission. The force marched, and took up fresh ground in rear of their former position.
On reaching Madras, Burgoyne addressed a letter to the