COUNT

See also:

• BENOIT, PETER LEONARD LEOPOLD (1834—1901)

BENOIT DE

See also:

• COUNT BENOIT DE BOIGNE (1751-1830)

BOIGNE (1751-1830)  , the first of the French military adventurers in India, was born at Chambery in Savoy on the 8th of March 1751, being the son of a fur merchant . He joined the Irish Brigade in France in 1768, and subsequently he entered the Russian service and was captured by the Turks . Hearing of the wealth of India, he made his way to that country, and after serving for a short time in the East India Company, he resigned and joined Mahadji Sindhia in 1784 for the purpose of training his troops in the European methods of war . In the battles of Lalsot and Chaksana Boigne and his two battalions proved their worth by holding the field when the rest of the Mahratta army was defeated by the Rajputs . In the battle of Agra (1788) he restored the Mahratta fortunes, and made Mahadji Sindhia undisputed master of Hindostan . This success led to his being given the command of a brigade of ten battalions of infantry, with which he won the victories of Patan and Merta in 1790 . In consequence Boigne was allowedto raise two further brigades of disciplined infantry, and made commander-in-chief of Sindhia's army . In the battle of Lakhairi (1793) he defeated Holkar's army . On the death of Mahadji Sindhia in 1794, Boigne could have made himself master of Hindostan had he wished it, but he remained loyal to Daulat Rao Sindhia . In 1795 his health began to fail, and he resigned his command, and in the following year returned to Europe with a fortune of £400,000 . He lived in retirement during the lifetime of Napoleon, but was greatly honoured by Louis XVIII . He died on the Zest of June 1830 .

See H .

Compton, European Military Adventurers of Hindustan (1892) .