![CLIVE, Robert, 1st Baron Clive of Plassey (1725-1774). Autograph letter signed ('Robert Clive') to Captain [Rodolphus de] Gingins, 'Arcott Fort', 2 September 1751, 2 pages, 4to, integral address leaf; with two related notes addressed to Gingins by Thomas Saunders (the East India Company president of Madras), Fort St David, 28 November and 19 December 1751 (remnants of guards).](https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2014/CKS/2014_CKS_01546_0011_000(clive_robert_1st_baron_clive_of_plassey_autograph_letter_signed_to_cap062233).jpg?w=1)
细节
CLIVE, Robert, 1st Baron Clive of Plassey (1725-1774). Autograph letter signed ('Robert Clive') to Captain [Rodolphus de] Gingins, 'Arcott Fort', 2 September 1751, 2 pages, 4to, integral address leaf; with two related notes addressed to Gingins by Thomas Saunders (the East India Company president of Madras), Fort St David, 28 November and 19 December 1751 (remnants of guards).
CLIVE AT ARCOT FORT. 'I am a most fortunate fellow [--] upon my march for Arcot the Moors took such a Pannick that they have left me in Possession of a Fort in the Midst of it, surrounded with a small Ditch [--] to-morrow I shall have 3 Months Provisions in the Place and nothing less than 300 Europeans with a Train of Battering cannon shall force me out of the Place. // As for Cope in Respect to me he is no more than a Flea in Grandeur, I am lolling upon Chundas Pillows & in his Palace with Six great Guns before me ... I hope to have the Pleasure of seeing you at Arcot, Chunda must retreat for I'll not budge (By God) without Orders from Mr Saunders'. The two letters from Saunders, which are written on unusual long slips of paper, presumably intended for concealment, also refer to the siege of Arcot and Clive's subsequent military feats ('He continues successful, But the Enemy have so many strong Places to resort to that they soon recover their strength, & he has them to beat over again').
THE BIRTH OF THE LEGEND OF 'CLIVE OF INDIA'. At the outbreak of the First Carnatic War, the French-sympathising Nawab of the Carnatic, Chanda Sahib, had left his capital at Arcot in order to besiege his British-sponsored rival, Mohammed Ali Khan Walajah, at Trichinopoly. A 26-year old civilian with no formal military training, Clive showed extraordinary daring in capturing the city of 100,000 with a force of barely 500 soldiers on 31 August; much more remarkable, however, was the subsequent feat of holding the fort at Arcot, with its crumbling walls a mile in circumference, for 50 days against a besieging army estimated at 10,000 under Chanda's son, Raza Sahib. His success in this and in the subsequent operations in the Carnatic was to catapult Clive to fame. The recipient of Clive's letter, Rodolphus de Gingins, a Swiss captain in the East India Company service (characterised as 'a brave but incompetent Swiss' by M. Bence-Jones, Clive of India, 1974, p. 36) was engaged in the operations at Trichinopoly. The letter is not cited in any of the principal biographies of Clive, and appears to be unknown.
CLIVE AT ARCOT FORT. 'I am a most fortunate fellow [--] upon my march for Arcot the Moors took such a Pannick that they have left me in Possession of a Fort in the Midst of it, surrounded with a small Ditch [--] to-morrow I shall have 3 Months Provisions in the Place and nothing less than 300 Europeans with a Train of Battering cannon shall force me out of the Place. // As for Cope in Respect to me he is no more than a Flea in Grandeur, I am lolling upon Chundas Pillows & in his Palace with Six great Guns before me ... I hope to have the Pleasure of seeing you at Arcot, Chunda must retreat for I'll not budge (By God) without Orders from Mr Saunders'. The two letters from Saunders, which are written on unusual long slips of paper, presumably intended for concealment, also refer to the siege of Arcot and Clive's subsequent military feats ('He continues successful, But the Enemy have so many strong Places to resort to that they soon recover their strength, & he has them to beat over again').
THE BIRTH OF THE LEGEND OF 'CLIVE OF INDIA'. At the outbreak of the First Carnatic War, the French-sympathising Nawab of the Carnatic, Chanda Sahib, had left his capital at Arcot in order to besiege his British-sponsored rival, Mohammed Ali Khan Walajah, at Trichinopoly. A 26-year old civilian with no formal military training, Clive showed extraordinary daring in capturing the city of 100,000 with a force of barely 500 soldiers on 31 August; much more remarkable, however, was the subsequent feat of holding the fort at Arcot, with its crumbling walls a mile in circumference, for 50 days against a besieging army estimated at 10,000 under Chanda's son, Raza Sahib. His success in this and in the subsequent operations in the Carnatic was to catapult Clive to fame. The recipient of Clive's letter, Rodolphus de Gingins, a Swiss captain in the East India Company service (characterised as 'a brave but incompetent Swiss' by M. Bence-Jones, Clive of India, 1974, p. 36) was engaged in the operations at Trichinopoly. The letter is not cited in any of the principal biographies of Clive, and appears to be unknown.
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