Francis Forde (1718–1770) was born in

Seaforde Seaforde is a small village in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is within the townland of Naghan,Seaforde Seaforde is a small village in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is within the townland of Naghan,Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

in 1734 and left with a B.A. in 1738. Adopting a military career, he joined Colonel Aldercron's 39th Regiment as a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

army officer who served in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

with

Robert Clive Robert Clive, 1st Baron Clive, (29 September 1725 – 22 November 1774), also known as Clive of India, was the first British Governor of the Bengal Presidency. Clive has been widely credited for laying the foundation of the British ...

during the eighteenth century.

Early Indian Service

He first arrived in India in the mid-1740s during the

War of the Austrian Succession The War of the Austrian Succession () was a European conflict that took place between 1740 and 1748. Fought primarily in Central Europe, the Austrian Netherlands, Italy, the Atlantic and Mediterranean, related conflicts included King George's W ...

. By 1746 he was a Captain in the

39th Regiment of Foot The 39th (Dorsetshire) Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1702. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 54th (West Norfolk) Regiment of Foot to form the Dorsetshire Regiment in 1881. History Early ...

. In 1755 at the request of Clive he resigned his commission in the regular

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

to take up a post in the

British East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

's forces. He was soon the British second in command in Bengal following the Battle of Calcutta. He served with Clive in the subsequent

Battle of Plassey The Battle of Plassey was a decisive victory of the British East India Company over the Nawab of Bengal and his French allies on 23 June 1757, under the leadership of Robert Clive. The victory was made possible by the defection of Mir Jafar, ...

. On the first anniversary he threw a major party in honour of the victory.Harvey p.237

Masulipatam

Forde was then given a detachment of troops and ordered to drive the French from

Masulipatam Machilipatnam (), also known as Masulipatnam and Bandar, is a city in Krishna district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is a municipal corporation and the administrative headquarters of Krishna district. It is also the mandal headquarte ...

. He was badly supported by a local ally Anandraz but still managed to rout the French force at the Battle of Condore and overrun their camp, before laying siege to Masulipatem itself. His forces then stormed the town on 25 January 1759 losing a third of their number. He was widely commended for his leadership during the campaign.

Chinsurah

Later that year he returned to Bengal and won the

Battle of Chinsurah The Battle of Chinsurah (also known as the Battle of Biderra or Battle of HooglySpectrum Modern History Of India, Rajiv Ahir, page 41.) took place near Chinsurah, India on 25 November 1759 during the Seven Years' War between a force of British tr ...

removing the Dutch threat to British power in Bengal.

Later life

Despite these twin victories, Forde's brevet promotion to Lieutenant Colonel was not initially ratified by the East India Company. It was only with the personal intervention of Clive that he was eventually given a formal promotion. He then returned to Ireland for several years, where he lived in Johnstown in

County Meath County Meath (; gle, Contae na Mí or simply ) is a county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. It is bordered by Dublin to the southeast, Louth to the northeast, Kildare to the south, Offaly to the sou ...

. In 1769 he was sent out as part of a three-man committee, with

Henry Vansittart Henry Vansittart (3 June 1732 – 1770) was an English colonial administrator, who was the Governor of Bengal from 1759 to 1764. Life Vansittart was born in Bloomsbury in Middlesex, the third son of Arthur van Sittart (1691–1760), and his w ...

and Luke Scrafton, to investigate the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

's practices. They set sail in the frigate ''Aurora'' in September 1769. The vessel left the

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( af, Kaap die Goeie Hoop ) ;''Kaap'' in isolation: pt, Cabo da Boa Esperança is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is t ...

on 27 December 1769, but the ship disappeared en route to India and he was believed drowned with the rest of the passengers and crew. The captain had decided to navigate the

Mozambique Channel The Mozambique Channel (french: Canal du Mozambique, mg, Lakandranon'i Mozambika, pt, Canal de Moçambique) is an arm of the Indian Ocean located between the Southeast African countries of Madagascar and Mozambique. The channel is about long ...

despite bad weather.Article by H M Stephens, revised by D J Prior. Colonel Forde married Margaret, daughter of Thomas Bowerbank. His son, Robert Forde succeeded to the property at Johnstown in Co. Meath and later became MP for the county.

References

Bibliography