The Generals

Chapter 61

The fleet set sail early in February and arrived at Bombay in March. During the voyage the fleet was overhauled by one of the fast packet ships used to carry dispatches. Arriving too late at Trincomalee, the ship had set off after the fleet. There was a message from Richard to inform his brother that Major General Baird was now in command of the expedition. Arthur hurriedly wrote a dispatch to Baird explaining his actions and sent the packet ship back to Ceylon. For the rest of the voyage he slipped into a melancholy mood and upon reaching Bombay began a detailed report of his preparations and advisory notes for his replacement.

Baird finally caught up with the expeditionary force at the beginning of April. He immediately summoned Arthur to meet him in the Governor’s residence. Arthur took his reports with him, and entered the ornate entrance to the building with a sense of foreboding. His mood was not helped by an itching sensation that had begun a few days earlier and now affected most of his body. The army surgeon he had consulted had served long enough in India to recognise the symptoms at once.

‘It’s the Malabar Itch, I’m afraid, sir,’ Dr Scott said as Arthur buttoned up his shirt. ‘You’re in for an uncomfortable time over the coming weeks.’

‘How does this Malabar Itch develop?’

‘Once the skin irritation covers your body you can expect blisters to follow.They will erupt and spread the infection which will make sleep all but impossible.’

Arthur swallowed. ‘And then?’

‘Well, if it doesn’t drive you mad enough to kill yourself, you can expect the blistering to recede after two or three weeks. Full recovery will take some months and you will need to rest, sir. No soldiering.’

‘Damn it, man, I’m supposed to be leaving to fight in Egypt within a month.’

‘A month?’ Dr Scott shook his head. ‘Believe me, sir, in a month’s time you will be bed-bound.There’s no question of your embarking on a campaign for a long time.’

‘We’ll see about that,’ Arthur snapped as he pulled on his coat and made for the door. He paused, and turned back. ‘Is there anything to do to treat the illness?’

‘The usual treatment is an ointment composed of lard and sulphur.’ Dr Scott pursed his lips. ‘I’ve heard that some of my colleagues have had more success by having their patients bathe in diluted nitric acid.’

Arthur winced. ‘Sounds painful.’

‘It is, sir. But you might want to consider it.’

‘I might,’ Arthur muttered as he left the dispensary.

Now, a few days later, he felt the hot prickle of the blisters chafing against his clothes and it took a great effort to resist the urge to scratch viciously at the irritation. He took a deep breath and entered the office assigned to Baird.There were a number of men present, some of whom Arthur recalled from the day he had assumed control of Seringapatam. One or two of them glanced at him with barely concealed smugness in their expressions. Baird was seated behind a large desk and looked up the moment Arthur closed the door behind him.

‘Wellesley. How are you?’

‘I’m well, sir.’ Arthur considered asking if Baird’s voyage had been pleasant, but thought better of the impulse, under the circumstances. ‘I take it you received my letter, sir.’

‘Yes,’ Baird replied. There was a silence and Arthur braced himself for a harsh dressing down. ‘As far as I am concerned you did the right thing, Wellesley. If you had left it any longer the winds would not have been favourable for the Red Sea.’

‘Yes, sir.’ Arthur felt the relief wash through his body at the general’s words. He approached the desk and handed his document folder over. ‘My report, sir. And the plans and documents pertaining to the campaign.’

Baird took the folder and placed it on his desk. ‘I’ll read through that as soon as possible, and consult you again then. In the meantime, I have one question for you.’

‘Sir?’

‘I know that there have been some differences of opinion between us in the past, Wellesley, but I’m not foolish enough to bear a grudge. I’d be grateful if you would serve as my chief of staff. Well, will you do it?’

‘Yes, sir,’ Arthur replied. ‘Of course. I’d be honoured.’

‘Good!’ Baird smiled genuinely. ‘I’d hoped you’d agree. Now then, I’ll read through your report and then we’ll talk again.’

The chance did not arise, as the illness took its hold on Arthur. The blisters spread across his skin until his whole body was encrusted in white protrusions the size of peas. If he scratched at them, the blisters burst and spread their foul contents, and left him in even more discomfort. Arthur attempted to distract himself by reading as much as possible, and writing a long letter each day to Kitty. As Dr Scott had said, sleep became impossible since every point of his body that was in contact with the bedding felt as if it was on fire. After a few days Arthur finally consented to try the nitric baths and substituted one kind of agony for another as the treatment left his skin feeling almost unbearably sore and tender.

General Baird came to see him early in May. He stood a short distance from the bed and shook his head sadly as he gazed down at Arthur.

‘The fleet is sailing tomorrow. I wish you were coming with us.’

‘So do I, sir.’

‘I can understand that. After all the work you have put into preparing this army, you deserve to be there when it goes into action.You’ve done a fine job,Wellesley. I have no doubt that your brother’s confidence in your abilities is fully justified.’

‘Thank you, sir.’

‘There is a ship, the Susannah, which is waiting here to pick up the last consignment of powder. She leaves in ten days. If you have recovered by then, you can leave with her and catch us up. After that, the shift in the trade winds pattern will make it almost impossible to reach the Red Sea in time.’

‘I understand, sir.’

‘Once again, my thanks.’ Baird smiled. ‘I think you’ll understand if I refrain from shaking your hand.’

Arthur laughed, then winced as the movement brought on a fresh wave of fiery irritation.

‘I hope to see you in Egypt, then.’

Arthur nodded. ‘Goodbye, sir.’

His recovery proceeded slowly, too slowly to re-join the expedition, and Arthur watched sadly from the window of the hospital as the Susannah slipped her moorings and headed out to sea.

Three days later a cargo ship arrived with the news that the crew had witnessed the Susannah founder in a storm, taking every soul aboard with her.

When Arthur heard this, he could not help wondering at the perversity of fate. To have given him a reputation-making command only to take it away, then make him too ill to join the expedition, and thereby miss a terrible death at sea. It was impossible to know if there was any divine design to his life. Rather, he seemed to be swung from fortune to misfortune with the regularity of a metronome. As his health slowly recovered Arthur’s grievance against Richard for his decision to replace him continued to fester after an exchange of letters failed to resolve their differences. Richard refused to acknowledge that he had been pressured into withdrawing Arthur’s command, and maintained that the reason for his decision was his need for Arthur’s services in India.

Once he was well enough to travel, Arthur took a ship to Mangalore and then rode inland back to Seringapatam. He arrived early in May, as a thunderstorm lashed the city. Arthur’s illness had turned his hair grey at the temples, and his skin was still acutely sensitive as a result of the painful treatment he had undergone to cure the Malabar Itch. Vingetty did his best to make his master comfortable as the humidity of the monsoon season continued to aggravate his condition. He resumed his duties as military governor and summoned Barry Close to a meeting as soon as he returned to his office.

‘It’s good to see you back, sir.’ Close smiled warmly as he entered the office and shook Arthur’s hand.

‘I trust that Mysore has been running smoothly in my absence.’

Close cocked his head to one side. ‘We have peace, trade and taxes, but there are still a few malcontents out there trying to stir up bad feeling against the Company.’

‘Thus it ever was,’ Arthur replied wearily. ‘But nothing to concern us unduly, I take it?’

Close hesitated a moment before he replied. ‘I’m not so sure, sir. I’ve had some disturbing reports from my agents in the Mahratta federation.’

‘Well?’

‘It seems that some of the warlords have hired themselves a number of French mercenaries to train scores of battalions of new recruits.’

‘Which warlords exactly?’

‘Scindia and Holkar.At the moment Holkar is remaining loyal to the Peshwa, but Scindia?’ Close shook his head. ‘I’ve no idea what the devil’s up to.’

‘But you have some suspicions,’ Arthur prompted.

‘Yes, sir.Yes I do.’ Close stroked his chin. ‘I believe he intends to rise up against the Peshwa, and impose a puppet ruler of his own. Scindia’s men have also been raiding into Hyderabad. It’s possible he plans to seize control of Hyderabad as well.’

Arthur quickly thought through the implications. ‘If that happens, Scindia will pose a far greater threat to our interests than Tipoo ever did.’

‘That’s my fear, sir.’ Close nodded. ‘And we would have a war on our hands, the like of which has never been witnessed on Indian soil.’