‘The future of India?’ Arthur mused. ‘I’ve been thinking of little else since I arrived here. Believe me, before I return home, I will have made my mark on these lands and their peoples.’

Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Spring gave way to summer and the heat increased to stifling proportions, but Arthur continued to drill his men as often as possible until the 33rd moved with precision in response to his commands. They soon sweated off the extra weight they had gained on the voyage from England and became as fit and hardy as they had ever been. Arthur had persuaded the quartermaster at Fort William to provide his men with the lighter and looser uniforms issued to Company soldiers, but the men still grumbled under the weight of their backpacks, heavy boots and muskets.

He ordered that a firing range be set up in the fort, and once every fortnight he had the men perform a live fire drill, the sound of their muskets echoing round the fort and drawing curious glances from those not used to it.The cost of gunpowder was such that few armies anywhere in the world allowed their soldiers to discharge their weapons off the battlefield. But Arthur had no intention of putting the request for powder through official army channels. Instead, he drew on the stocks of the East India Company who had plentiful supplies of powder and ball in their Calcutta arsenal.

Naturally the quartermaster protested, and Arthur cordially invited him to write a letter of complaint to the board of directors in London, in the happy knowledge that time and distance would mean that any dispute over his actions would take years to resolve. At the same time, Arthur was writing long letters to his brother Richard, urging him to put his name forward when His Majesty’s government and the Company decided to find a replacement for Sir John Shore. He filled the pages of his letters with detailed reports on any aspect of India that might be of use to his brother: descriptions of the geography, the natural resources that England might harvest, the loyalties or otherwise of its peoples and carefully judged assessments of any Europeans who might help or hinder the expansion of British influence in the subcontinent. Most important of all Arthur outlined the threats to British influence in India which would need to be overcome before any grand vision for the future could become a reality. In addition to the resurgence of French involvement in the area, there were a number of powerful native warlords who must be reduced to client status.