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| Battle of Chinsurah | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theSeven Years' War | |||||||
.jpg) A 1787 painting ofChinsurah byWilliam Hodges | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 East India Company Bengal Subah |  Dutch East India Company | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Francis Forde Charles WilsonMir Jafar | Jean-Baptiste Roussel  | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 300 European infantrymen 800 sepoys 50 European cavalrymen 200 Indian cavalrymen 3 warships 100 Bengali cavalrymen | 150 Europeans (garrison) 300 sepoys (garrison) 700 Europeans (reinforcements) 800 Malays (reinforcements) 7 warships | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Unknown | 320 killed 300 wounded 550 captured 6 warships captured 1 warship grounded | ||||||
  Chinsurah Chinsurah (India) Show map of India | |||||||
TheBattle of Chinsurah, also known as theBattle of Biderra or theBattle of Hoogly, took place on 25 November 1759 nearChinsurah during theSeven Years' War. It was fought between forces of the BritishEast India Company (EIC) and theDutch East India Company (VOC), the latter of whom had been invited in 1759 by theNawab of Bengal,Mir Jafar, to help him expel the EIC and establish the VOC as the leading European power inBengal.
Despite theKingdom of Great Britain and theDutch Republic not formally being at war, the VOC's forces advanced up theHooghly River. They met a force ofBengal Army troops underFrancis Forde at Chinsurah on 25 November, fifty kilometres fromCalcutta. Forde's troops defeated the Dutch, forcing them to withdraw. Several EIC ships had earlier engaged and defeated the ships the VOC used to deliver the troops in a separate naval battle on 24 November.[1]
Following the British capture and demolition of the French outpost atChandernagore in 1757,Mir Jafar, theNawab of Bengal, opened secret negotiations with representatives of theDutch East India Company to bring troops into Dutch holdings in the area with the goal of using them against the British. Britain and theDutch Republic were at peace, although tensions were high due to theSeven Years' War, andBritish East India Company administratorRobert Clive was preoccupied with fighting the French. The Dutch directors of the outpost atChinsurah, not far from Chandernagore, seeing an opportunity to expand their influence, agreed to send additional troops to Chinsurah. A fleet of seven ships, containing more than fifteen hundred European and Malay troops, came fromBatavia and arrived at the mouth of theHooghly River in October 1759, while the Nawab was meeting with Clive inCalcutta.
The Nawab had been forced to ask the British for assistance against threats on his northern border in the interim, and told Clive that he would return toHooghly, summon the Dutch directors, and demand the departure of their ships. After meeting with the Dutch, he informed Clive that he had granted the Dutch some privileges, and that they would leave as soon as circumstances permitted. This news, combined with reports that the Dutch were recruiting in and around Chinsurah, led Clive to treat the situation as a real military threat.
Of four ships he had available, Clive sent one out in an attempt to request assistance fromAdmiral Cornish, who was patrolling the coast. The Dutch captured this ship when they seized several smaller British vessels on the Hooghly River. Clive called out the militia and put out calls for volunteers, increased the fortifications on the river batteries, and sent ColonelFrancis Forde with five hundred men toward Chandernagore with an eye toward capturing the Dutch outpost atBaranagore and intercepting the Dutch should they try to take Chandernagore. The Dutch landed their troops on the northern shore of the Hooghly on 21 November, just beyond the range of the British river batteries, and marched for Chinsurah.
The three remaining British ships had followed the Dutch ships up the river at some distance. When the Dutch had finished landing the troops, the Dutch ships began moving down the river. On 23 November, Commodore Charles Wilson, commander of the British flotilla, indicated that he wanted to pass the Dutch, who threatened to fire on the British if they did. The next day, after the rejection of an ultimatum from Clive demanding restitution for the earlier Dutch seizures, the two fleets engaged. In a two-hour battle, theDuke of Dorset forced the Dutch flagshipVlissingen tostrike her colours, whileHardwicke andCalcutta chased off two ships and grounded a third before the remaining ships also struck their colours. (Other British ships arriving at the mouth of the river eventually captured the two remaining fleeing Dutch ships.)
On the night of 23 November, Forde and his men encamped near Chandernagore, having successfully taken control of Baranagore (Now Baranagar). The Dutch, hoping to trap Forde between the arriving troops and the Chinsurah garrison, sent their arriving troops out to camp in the ruins of Chandernagore that night. The following morning the two forces engaged. Forde's men routed the Dutch, forcing them back to Chinsurah, and captured the Dutch field artillery. Additional troops sent from Calcutta joined Forde there, raising the size of his force to about 1200 men. The Nawab also sent 100 cavalry to the British camp, ostensibly to assist the British; these were likely placed to observe the battle and side with the victors. With reports from prisoners that the Dutch reinforcements would be arriving the next day, Forde rushed a message to Clive in Calcutta requesting advice, as attacking the Dutch force could be viewed as an act of war. Clive responded by writing on the back of Forde's message, "Dear Forde—Fight them immediately", and sending it back.
Forde chose as his location the plain of Biderra, between Chinsurah and Chandernagore. His troops occupied the village of Biderra on the right and a mango grove to the left; a wide ditch secured the center. At about 10 on the morning of 25 November, the Dutch force arrived. As soon as they came within range, Forde ordered his field artillery to fire. The Dutch continued to advance in spite of the British fire until they reached the ditch, something they had not apparently been aware of. When the front of the Dutch lines stopped, the rear continued to press forward, throwing the Dutch forces into confusion. As their position was then within range of British musket fire, they suffered significant casualties before managing to turn retreat. At this point Forde sent out his cavalry, inviting the nawab's men to join the charge. However, the nawab's men held back and did not join the British until the second charge, when it seemed clear they would be victorious.
The British victory was so complete that, of the Dutch troops sent, only sixteen Europeans successfully reached Chinsurah. In the wake of their victory, Clive overthrew Mir Jafar and replaced him with his son-in-lawMir Kasim Ali Khan. Along with theBattle of Plassey, the battle helped establishBritish control over Bengal. The battle did not affect Dutch neutrality and they remained one of the few European states not involved in the war.
