Benoît de Boigne: Difference between revisions

Image:PolierMartinWombwellZoffany.jpg|thumb|300px|Painting of Antoine-Louis Polier, Johann Zoffany, Claude Martin and John Wombwell.

rect 269 140 344 305 [[Claude Martin]]

rect 124 147 181 298 [[Antoine-Louis Polier]]

In Lucknow, Leborgne was received by the nabab Asaf-ud-Daulah and was invited to live with Colonel Pollier, in the service of the Company. As Middleton, an Englishman present when Leborgne met the nabab, explained to him afterward, this invitation was in fact an order; if he refused he would have been thrown in prison. Colonel [[Antoine Polier]], a Swiss, received him warmly. Leborgne discovered that Lucknow had many European residents. He met two who spoke French. The first, [[Claude Martin]], was from [[Lyon]]s and had made his fortune in India; the second, Drugeon, was from Savoy like himself. The nabab gave Leborgne a kelat, richly decorated with gold and diamonds, along with letters of exchange for [[Kandahar]] and [[Kabul]], and 12,000 rupees. The nabab kept Leborgne, with many others, as a privileged captive for five months. Polier explained to Leborgne that although he had been given the letters of exchange, he would have to be patient. While waiting, Leborgne began to learn Persian and Hindi.

Sindhia discussed with De Boigne about an expedition to the north of India and a resulting possible invasion by the Afghans. He then offered to de Boigne the command of the camp guard, which de Boigne refused. Vexed, Sindhia dismissed him without returning his precious papers. This misadventure showed de Boigne that his project of exploration was unpopular among Indians, and he decided to abandon it. His argument with Sindhia came to the ears of Sindhia's enemies, first to those of the Rajah of [[Jaipur]], who was looking for a European officer to form two battalions. De Boigne accepted the offer and returned to Lucknow to raise and train the troops. The British, suspicious, asked de Boigne to explain himself to Hastings, who, after hearing his intentions, allowed him to continue. Once the battalions were recruited and operational, de Boigne and his men started for Jaipur. However, en route they were stopped at [[Dholpur]] by a local petty lord whose fortress blocked the only passage. After they gave him a ransom, he allowed them to pass. This episode displeased the Rajah of Jaipur, who dismissed de Boigne without any compensation, while keeping the two new battalions.

Over the next few years there were many battles among [[Marathas]], [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]]s, [[Kachwahas]] and [[Rathore]]s. At the battles of [[Lalsot]] (May 1787) and of [[Chaksana]] (24 April 1788), de Boigne and his two battalions proved their worth by holding the field when the Marathas were losing. The year 1788 was especially turbulent. On August 10, [[Gholam Kadir]] had the Emperor Shah Alam's eyes torn out. On August 14, the Maratha army, allied with the army of Begum Joanna and of that of her old enemy [[Ismail Beg]], entered Delhi, retaking the town it had once lost. Kadir escaped but was captured, and the Marathas killed him gruesomely, among other tortures putting out his eyes and cutting off his ears and nose. His corpse was then given to the emperor. Once more Mahadji Sindhia had triumphed and was now the true power in India. It was at this time that Benoît de Boigne proposed to Sindhia the creation of a brigade of 10,000 men in order to consolidate his conquest of India. Sindhia refused because his treasury could not afford it, but also because he had doubts about the superiority of the artillery-infantry combination, as opposed to the cavalry that had been the main weapon of the Maratha armies. This refusal caused a new dispute between the two men, and Benoît de Boigne resigned. Once more unemployed, he returned to Lucknow.

<ref>{{cite book |last=Dalrymple|first=William |authorlink=William Dalrymple (historian)|title=White Mughals |publisher=[[Harper Perennial]] |year=2002|ISBN=978-0-00-655096-9}}</ref>

Starting in 1790, the brigade had to face Rajputs, Ismail Beg, and the rajahs of Bikaner and Jaipur. De Boigne decided to attack this coalition by surprise on May 23. De Boigne demonstrated his military talent by gaining one victory after another. The East India Company began to become concerned about this new Maratha army, dangerous to their domination. Within six months of 1790, in a hostile, hilly terrain, de Boigne's brigade defeated 100,000 men, confiscated 200 camels and 200 cannons, many bazaars, and fifty elephants. The Maratha army attacked and took seventeen fortresses by siege. It won several decisive battles, among which the most difficult were the battles of [[Battle of Patan|Patan]], Mairtah, and [[Ajmer]]. The Rajputs recognized the authority of [[Sindhia]] as prime minister. The Marathas were now the masters of northern and northwestern India. During these military campaigns, de Boigne continued his commercial association with Claude Martin from a distance. Sindhia, more powerful than ever, asked de Boigne to raise two more brigades. These were formed and their command was given by de Boigne to Frémont and Perron, assisted by Drugeon.

* {{Cite book|last=Compton|first=Herbert|url=https://archive.org/details/particularaccoun00compiala|title=A particular Account of the European Military Adventures of Hindustan, from 1784 to 1803|publisher=T. Fisher Unwin|year=1892|location=London|pages=7-108|chapter=De Boigne|author-link=Herbert Eastwick Compton|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/particularaccoun00compiala/page/n17/mode/2up}}

* Young, Desmond - ''Fountain of the Elephants'' (London, Collins, 1959)

[[Category:People from Chambéry]]