A protected but imperfect camp
Shuja-ud-Daula's camp stood on the southern bank of the Ganges. An entrenchment and long earth wall covered the front between the Ganges and the Thora; the historical plan nevertheless leaves a gap south of the work.
Battle
Buxar
22–23 October 1764
A wall, a southern passage, and a two-echelon line shape the battle before the retreat becomes a matter of bridge and baggage.
Military history
How did incomplete fortification, an early sortie, and a two-echelon line force the coalition to retreat?
Buxar was not fought on an abstract plain. After arriving and encamping on the 22nd, Munro prepared a frontal attack for the 24th, supplemented by a turning detachment through the gap south of the wall; the plan fell apart when the spies sent to report Shuja's movements did not return and Shuja marched out before dawn on the 23rd. The Company then had to pivot around a vast marsh and hold two echelons under Awadh cavalry charges. After its baggage was temporarily captured, it restored cohesion, regained the initiative, seized Ahiarauli and the batteries, cleared the grove and centre, then drove the coalition, which retreated toward the Thora and the boat bridge.
Munro's plan is foiled
Munro arrived and encamped on 22 October, then prepared a frontal attack and a turning detachment through the passage between the wall and the Thora for the 24th. The spies sent to report Shuja's movements did not return; Shuja therefore marched out before dawn on the 23rd and forced battle before the combination could be executed.
Depth absorbs several crises
The Company formed a first and second line with its guns and baggage behind. Awadh cavalry passed through the gap, charged the left and rear, reached the grenadiers, then temporarily plundered the baggage; Nicholson, Harper, and Champion subsequently restored continuity around the batteries, grove, and centre.
Military history
Sources
Secondary historical monographAshirbadi Lal Srivastava, Shuja-ud-Daulah, vol. I (1re éd. 1939 ; 2e éd. révisée 1961)
Chap. VIII, ‘The battle of Baksar, 23rd October, 1764’, pp. imprimées 199–204 (PDF 212–217) : arrivée et camp, plan nocturne, espions, sortie et ordre britannique ; pp. imprimées 205–212 (PDF 218–225) : charges, grenadiers, bagages, Ahiarauli, batteries, bosquet/Najibs et centre. Chap. IX, pp. imprimées 218–219 (PDF 231–232) : fuite vers la Thora, petit reste passé avec Shuja et pont probablement effondré sous l’encombrement ; la note de p. 218 juge la version d’une rupture volontaire non soutenue par les autorités contemporaines. Srivastava cite aussi la lettre de Munro au Bengal Board du 25 octobre 1764 aux pp. 201–204.
Secondary synthesis and relay of contemporary accounts for the camp's geometry, the plan, the sortie on the 23rd, named actions, and retreat sequence; it is not treated as a primary source.
View ↗Contemporary primary source (catalogue)Maj Hector Munro, ‘account of the battle of Buxar’ (1764)
British Library, India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F218/3 : notice de catalogue pour les papiers 1763–1765, dont ‘an account of the battle of Buxar by Maj Hector Munro (1764)’. Le dossier n’est pas numérisé ; aucun détail du manuscrit lui-même n’est revendiqué ici.
Establishes only the existence, author, date, and archival scope of the contemporary account identified by the catalogue; the manuscript was not consulted.
View ↗Historical and cartographic articleA. F. C. de Cosson, ‘Buxar and its Battle’
Bengal: Past and Present, vol. 6, nos 12–13 (1910), article ‘Buxar and its Battle’, p. imprimée 131 : deux lignes, capture temporaire des bagages britanniques, charges sur la seconde ligne, bosquet/retour du front et pont de bateaux.
Control source for the two echelons, charges, baggage, grove fighting, and logistical retreat.
View ↗Historical planA. F. C. de Cosson, Map of Buxar and its Battle
Plan publié en 1910 avec l’article de Bengal: Past and Present : Buxar au nord-est, Gange au nord et au nord-ouest, Thora descendant vers le sud-est, mur orienté du Gange vers la Thora avec un gap avant la rivière, et pont au sud-est ; utilisé comme contrôle de la carte pédagogique, avec une fonction distincte de celle d’un relevé métrique de chaque formation.
Independent cartographic check on landmarks and watercourses of the field.
View ↗Military memoir based on regimental returnsE. Buckle, Memoir of the Services of the Bengal Artillery, éd. J. W. Kaye
p. 26, section ‘Engagement at Buxar’ : arrivée le 22 octobre, combat le lendemain, vingt pièces de campagne et parc capturé ; édition numérisée de 1852.
Order of magnitude for the Company, artillery, disagreement over the date, and loss of the park; the link points directly to the actual PDF.
View ↗Nineteenth-century historical synthesisJ. C. Marshman, History of India, chapter 11 ‘Bengal, 1761–1772’
pp. 304–306, sections ‘The first sepoy mutiny, 1764’, ‘Battle of Buxar, October 23, 1764’ et ‘Arrangement with the emperor’.
Context for the mutiny, Munro's march, defeat, loss of the park, and progression toward the 1765 settlement, with caution over its imperial vocabulary.
View ↗Academic synthesisP. J. Marshall, Bengal: The British Bridgehead: Eastern India 1740–1828
Cambridge University Press, chap. 1, pp. 1–47, et chap. 4, pp. 93–136 : domination militaire, arrangements politiques et règlement de 1765.
Separation among victory at Buxar, political negotiation, and the gradual construction of Company fiscal authority.
View ↗Institutional synthesisNational Army Museum, Armies of the East India Company
Sections ‘Dominance’ et ‘Armies’ : Buxar en 1764, ordre de grandeur des forces de la Compagnie et droit de lever les taxes en 1765.
Institutional check on orders of magnitude and the fiscal scope of the settlement.
View ↗Historical reference workParshotam Mehra, A Dictionary of Modern Indian History 1707–1947
Entrée ‘Battle of Buxar (1764)’ : ordres de grandeur de la force de la Compagnie, fourchette des forces adverses et variation des bilans.
Independent check on estimates. Using it to impose a precise human total would exceed the documentary role retained here.
View ↗