base houses, for which the Council deprived him of his commission; but as
he was 'an extraordinary person in disciplining (drilling) soldiers,' he
was appointed adjutant of the regiment till he should give a specimen of
improved behaviour. When there was fighting to be done, the command was
taken by factors and writers, who were given temporary commissions as
captains, colonels, etc. Midford, Brown, Cowan, and others we hear of in
command of troops, were only soldiers for the occasion. So far back as
1676 the Directors had enjoined on their civil servants to acquire a
knowledge of military discipline, that in the event of any sudden attack
they might bear arms. Clive was far from being the first of the Company's
servants to lay down the pen for the sword, but he was the first to do so
permanently.

The inferior quality of the Company's officers through the first half of
the century is reflected in the fact that among the many who distinguished
themselves in the hard fighting that went on from 1751 to 1764, we find
only two who had not graduated in the King's service. These were Clive,
who entered the Company's service as a writer, and Preston, who was sent
to India as a civil engineer. Of the Company's purely military officers we
hear little or nothing.

The men were worse than the officers. Instead of the sturdy agricultural
labourers and farmers' sons that filled the ranks of the King's regiments,
they were 'the refuse of the vilest employments in London,' as Orme
described them fifty years later; 'the worst of their kind,' according to
Clive. Of all nationalities, ages, and colours, badly armed, badly fed,
and badly paid, they were almost without discipline. The native chiefs
vied with each other in getting Europeans into their service, so that none
but the most wretched would stay to serve the Company. At the best they
were only factory guards, and maintained for purposes of escort and