Sir, – Frank McNally’s Irishman’s Diary on the Lally-related dictionary (August 27th) is most interesting. However, he is harsh when he states, regarding saving India for France, that “if anyone could have turned the tide, it probably wasn’t Lally”. In fact, cut off from Europe by English naval domination and getting no reinforcements or funds, he kept a small army in being for a lengthy period. He faced down 10 mutinies of his troops who had not been paid for months. When Pondichery fell, Lally had 1,000 valid men facing 22,000 opponents.
Nor is it fair to say that he was anti-British. Admiral George Pocock with the British fleet off India wrote of the Franco-Irish soldier Thomas Arthur Lally to Robert, Lord Clive: “[He] is a free-spoken Gent. I think he must be a good soldier having seen so much service, and he would not have the posts he has in the army without being esteemed a good officer”.
Admiral Richard Kempenfelt confirmed that starvation forced the capitulation of Pondichery: “The Garrison suffered much during the siege from the scarcity of provisions and when they surrendered no Eatables were left; as Lally said they had devoured every living thing from an Elephant to a Mouse, even the leather (containers) . . .”
The Annual Register, an eminent English journal, had sympathy with Lally’s plight and wrote that he “left Madras in the utmost transports of rage and despair which a man of honour and ability in his profession can feel who is ill-seconded by his troops, neglected by those who ought to support him . . .” Even though under intense pressure, Lally had a sense of humour, which showed through his correspondence with Limerick-born Sir Eyre Coote, commander of the opposing forces to whom he sent wine and bottles of scent.
His English was quaint. He wrote to Coote: “I thought that half a dozen of smelling bottles would be agreeable to you, the more that I perceive you are an admirer of the fair sex and that smells are of great use in so hot a climate”.
Lally’s mother was French, his father was Irish and he described himself as “a European”. Neither he nor Coote mentioned Irish connections in their extensive correspondence.
Lally returned to France on parole from England to denounce the incompetence of Count d’Aché, the French naval commander who had left France with Lally’s expedition three months before an English expedition had set out, yet the English fleet reached India three months earlier because d’Aché had stopped at Rio de Janeiro, the Cape and Mauritius. Subsequently, d’Aché failed to co-ordinate with Lally in India, whereas the English navy, army and merchants worked hand in hand. The Compagnie des Indes also let Lally down and he had detailed complaints to make about their senior officials. But d’Aché and the officials had top-level contacts in Paris. Moreover, a scapegoat was wanted to calm public anger over the loss of India and Canada. For this end, the “Irishness” of Lally, said to be in the pay of England, was a convenient target.
While I have seen details of the funds set aside by Lally for the benefit of his natural son, Trophime-Gérard, I am unaware that father and son met before his execution. However, the boy was brought to the place of execution by family friends. Lally was gagged to prevent him making a last speech in which the authorities feared he would reveal damaging facts.
For more on Lally and India, see the Journal of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Societyfor the years 2004, 2005 and 2010. – Yours, etc,