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.