Thomas Adams (1730 — January 1764), was a British Army

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

, posthumously promoted to

Brigadier-general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

based on accounts of his defence of the British position in Bengal in 1763.

Biography

Adams commenced his military service in 1747 as a volunteer with the army under the command of the Duke of Cumberland in the Netherlands. On 25 June of the same year he obtained a commission as ensign in the

37th Foot The 37th (North Hampshire) Regiment of Foot was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in Ireland in February 1702. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 67th (South Hampshire) Regiment of Foot to become the Hampshire R ...

, in which regiment he rose to the rank of

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

nine years later. He was subsequently transferred to the

84th Foot The 84th (York and Lancaster) Regiment of Foot was a regiment in the British Army, raised in 1793. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 65th (2nd Yorkshire, North Riding) Regiment of Foot to form the York and Lancaster Regiment, with ...

, and was serving as a major in that regiment in India, when, in 1762, five years after the

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, ...

, he was appointed to the command of the united forces of the crown and of the East India Company in Bengal. It was a very critical period in British Indian history. Notwithstanding the victory at Plassey, the British power was by no means so completely established as to be free from the risk of overthrow.

Clive Clive is a name. People and fictional characters with the name include: People Given name * Clive Allen (born 1961), English football player * Clive Anderson (born 1952), British television, radio presenter, comedy writer and former barrister * ...

was in England. Mir Qasim, the astute minister and son-in-law of that

Mir Jafar Sayyid Mīr Jaʿfar ʿAlī Khān Bahādur ( – 5 February 1765) was a military general who became the first dependent Nawab of Bengal of the British East India Company. His reign has been considered by many historians as the start of the expan ...

whom Clive had placed upon the throne of Bengal in place of Siraj ud-Daulah, had in turn displaced his master and had been formally invested as Nawab at Patna in the previous year. The vices of venality and corruption which Clive, himself by no means over-scrupulous, had described as the chief dangers to British rule in India, were rampant in the Calcutta council chamber. By the unscrupulous action of the council and by the rapacity of the subordinate servants of the company trade was disorganised, the nawáb was deprived of his revenues, and the British name was rapidly becoming synonymous with oppression and fraud. Disputes on the subject of transit duties and an unjustifiable attack made by Mr. Ellis, one of the members of the council, upon the city of Patna, followed by the death of Mr. Amyatt, who had been sent as an envoy to the nawáb, and who was killed by the troops of the latter when resisting an attempt to make him prisoner, brought on war between the company and the nawáb. The forces of the latter numbered 40,000 men, including 25,000 infantry trained and disciplined on the European system, and a regiment of excellent artillerymen well supplied with guns. To oppose this force, Major Adams had under his command a small body of troops, variously estimated from 2,300 to 3,000, of whom only 850 were Europeans. His artillery also was inferior to that of the enemy. The campaign commenced on 2 July 1763, and lasted for four months, in the course of which Adams fought four actions, took two considerable forts and nearly 500 pieces of cannon, and defeated the most powerful Bengali army that up to that time had confronted the British in India. Key engagements included the Battle of Gheriah in August 1763. This lasted for four hours; the issue was at one time doubtful, the nawáb's troops breaking through a portion of the English line and capturing two guns, but the gallantry of the Europeans and steadiness of the

sepoy ''Sepoy'' () was the Persian-derived designation originally given to a professional Indian infantryman, traditionally armed with a musket, in the armies of the Mughal Empire. In the 18th century, the French East India Company and its oth ...

s under Adams's generalship saved the day, and the enemy were compelled to retreat with the loss of all their guns and stores. Another engagement was the Battle of Udhanala in September 1763: Adams pursued Qasim's troops to the gates of

Monghyr Munger, formerly spelt as Monghyr, is a twin city and a Municipal Corporation situated in the Indian state of Bihar. It is the administrative headquarters of Munger district and Munger Division. Munger was one of the major cities in Eastern In ...

and then besieged Patna where he was victorious but not before Qasim had killed some 60 British prisoners.Philippart, page 81 Adams followed Qasim's remaining

s for a few more days and then returned to Calcutta having conquered the whole of Bengal in just a few months.Philippart, page 82 At the close of the campaign, Major Adams was compelled by ill-health to resign his command and died at Calcutta in January 1764. As soon as the intelligence of the campaign reached England, Adams was advanced to the rank of brigadier-general, but he had already been dead for some months when his commission was issued.

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, Thomas 1730s births 1764 deaths 37th Regiment of Foot officers 84th Regiment of Foot officers British Army brigadiers British Army personnel of the War of the Austrian Succession British Commanders-in-Chief of India British East India Company Army officers