Editing Stringer Lawrence (section)

==Career==
[[File:Stinger Lawrence and Nawab Wallajah.JPG|thumb|200px|Stringer Lawrence and [[Muhammad Ali Khan Wallajah|Nawab Wallajah]]. Such a portrait formerly hung in the Banqueting Hall of Government House, Madras<ref>''Palk Manuscripts'', four-volume collection of the correspondence of Sir Robert Palk relating to Indian affairs, ''Historical Manuscripts Commission: Report on the Palk manuscripts in the possession of Mrs Bannatyne of Haldon, Devon'', p.XII [https://archive.org/stream/reportonpalkmanu00grearich/reportonpalkmanu00grearich_djvu.txt]</ref>]]
{{pull quote|For Discipline Established, Fortresses Protected, Settlements Extended, French and Indian Armies Defeated, and Peace Concluded in the Carnatic|author=Epitaph by the [[East India Company]], [[Westminster Abbey]]}}
He seems to have entered the army in 1727 and served in [[Gibraltar]] and [[Flanders]], subsequently taking part in the [[Battle of Culloden]]. In 1748, with the rank of [[Major (rank)|major]] and the reputation of an experienced soldier, he went out to [[India]] to command the [[British East India Company|East India Company]]'s troops. [[Joseph François Dupleix|Dupleix]]'s schemes for the French conquest of southern India were on the point of taking effect, and not long after his arrival at [[Fort St David]], Lawrence was actively engaged. He successfully foiled an attempted surprise by French troops at [[Cuddalore]], but was captured by a French cavalry patrol at ''Ariancopang'' (modern [[Ariankuppam]]) whilst leading forces to assist Admiral [[Edward Boscawen]] in enforcing the [[Siege of Pondicherry (1748)|Siege of Pondicherry]] in 1748. He was kept prisoner by the French until the [[Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748)|peace of Aix-la-Chapelle]].

In 1749 he was in command at the capture of [[Devicota]], during which one of his subordinate officers was [[Robert Clive]] (1725–1774), the future [[Commander-in-Chief, India|Commander-in-Chief of British India]], with whom a lifelong friendship began. When Clive had become famous he honoured Lawrence by refusing to accept a sword of honour unless one was voted to him also, as the creator of the Indian army.

In 1750 Lawrence returned to England, but he was back in India by 1752. Here he found Clive in command of a force intended for the relief of [[Trichinopoly]]. As senior officer Lawrence took over the command, but was careful to allow Clive every credit for his share in the subsequent operations, which included the relief of Trichinopoly and the surrender of the entire French besieging force. In 1752 with an inferior force he defeated the French at [[Bahour]] and in 1753 again relieved Trichinopoly. For the next seventeen months he fought a series of actions in defence of that place, and finally arranged an armistice of three months, afterwards converted into a conditional treaty. He was commander-in-chief until the arrival of the first detachment of regular forces of the crown.

In 1757 he served in the operations against [[Wandiwash]], and in 1758-1759 was in command of [[Fort St George]], Madras, during the siege by the French under [[Thomas Arthur, comte de Lally|Lally]]. In 1759 failing health compelled him to return to England, but in 1761 he resumed his command as [[major-general]] and commander-in-chief. Clive supplemented his old friend's limited income by settling on him an annuity of £500 a year. In 1765 he presided over the board charged with arranging the reorganisation of the Madras army, and he finally retired the following year.