Besides the ships sunk in the passage, there were at Chandernagore
the French East Indiaman the _Saint Contest_ (Captain de la Vigne
Buisson), four large ships, and several small ones. The French
needed all the sailors for the Fort, so they sank all the vessels
they could not send up the river except three, which it was supposed
they intended to use as fire-ships.

Clive, in the meantime, was advancing cautiously, his men erecting
batteries, which seemed to be very easily silenced by the superior
gunnery of the Fort. His object was partly to weary out the garrison
by constant fighting, and partly to creep round to the river face,
so as to be in a position to take the batteries which commanded the
narrow river passage, as soon as Admiral Watson was ready to attack
the Fort. Later on, the naval officers asserted he could not have
taken the Fort without the assistance of the fleet. He said he
could, and it is certain that if he had had no fleet to assist him
his mode of attack would have been a very different one.

Early in the siege the French were warned from Chinsurah to beware
of treachery amongst the deserters in their pay, and on the 17th of
March a number of arrows were found in the Fort with labels
attached, bearing the words:--

"Pardon to deserters who will rejoin their colours, and
rewards to officers who will come over to us."

These were seized by the officers before the men could see them, but
one of the officers themselves, Charles Cossard de Terraneau, a
sub-lieutenant of the garrison, took advantage of the offer to go