Other 18th-/19th-century conflicts
Maps, views and documents from 19 wars
Pondicherry, 1760-61
Plan of the City and Environs of Pondicherry, Invested by the English Army under the Command of Colonel / Coote the 27.th of September 1760, and Surrender’d Prisoners of War the 16.th of January 1761
c.1760-65Pencil, ink and watercolour on paper; some pricking through | Scale: 1:20,200 approx. | RCIN 733020
This finely executed drawing is done in the style of cartography which developed in the Board of Ordnance Tower Drawing Room in the first half of the eighteenth century, and which was brought to a high standard on the Military Survey of Scotland (1747-55) for which Paul Sandby was the chief draughtsman, and Pleydell was one of the surveyors/draughtsmen. The scale is given in French units of measure, suggesting that this map is possibly copied from captured French mapping.
This is one of fourteen manuscript plans in the collection by Pleydell of fortifications and/or actions during the Third Carnatic War (1757-63), which was part of the Seven Years War. They were all placed, in Cumberland's original collection, in Volume IV/70/1-14. Their current RCIN numbers are 732125, 732126, 733001-8, 733016.a, 733027, 733028. It is not known when they were drawn but it must have been sometime before Cumberland's death in 1765. The source material for this set of plans is unknown. There is no evidence to suggest that Pleydell ever went to India and, in 1760, he was serving in Germany. It is possible that the maps by John Call, Chief Engineer, Madras Engineers (see RCINs 733021 and 733022) may also have formed part of the compilation materials, although the detail of the entrenchments to the north of the city is different.
Additional text: [down left and right sides of the map, in plain rectangular panels, a key, A-I, K-T, V, X-Z, &, a-i, k-n, 1-13 to the batteries, gates, principal buildings, and redoubts in and around the city, together with a resumé of the numbers of prisoners of war and captured military stores.]
Condition: one fold line; slight brown discolouration to both sides.
John Cleeve Pleydell (1736-1816) (draughtsman) [bottom right, inside neatline:] L.t Pleydell.
Watermark: Fleur-de-lys in crowned shield, the letters GR below; countermark: JWHATMAN
Mark, stamped: 916
Condition: one fold line; slight brown discolouration to both sides
Scale: 1:20,200 approx. Scale bar: 800 Toises [77 mm =].
42.3 x 46.5 cm (neatline)
47.3 x 69.9 cm (image)
50.2 x 72.8 cm (sheet)
Manuscript title:
Plan of the City and Environs of Pondicherry, Invested by the English Army under the Command of Colonel / Coote the 27.th of September 1760, and Surrender’d Prisoners of War the 16.th of January 1761. [top, in plain rectangular panel]
Additional text:
[down left and right sides of the map, in plain rectangular panels, a key, A-I, K-T, V, X-Z, &, a-i, k-n, 1-13 to the batteries, gates, principal buildings, and redoubts in and around the city, together with a resumé of the numbers of prisoners of war and captured military stores.]
Annotations:
George III heading: Pondicherry 27 Sep. - 16 Jan. 1761.
Other annotations: (Recto) none. (Verso) [top right, along top edge, black pencil, erased and now partly legible:] [?] Verdachilum [?]; [bottom, right of centre, ink:] IV./70./12. [no ‘No’]; [bottom, right of centre, black pencil, erased:] XVI/[73]; [bottom, right of centre, black pencil:] [73]; [bottom, right of centre, above old heading, black pencil:] Pondicherry 27 Sep. – 16 Jan. 1761.
George III catalogue entry:
Pondicherry A drawn Plan of the City and Environs of Pondicherry invested by the English Army under the command of Colonel Coote, the 27.th of Sept.r 1760, and surrendered the 16.th of Jan.y 1761: by Lieut. Pleydell.
Subject(s)
Puducherry, Tamil Nādu, India (11°55'48"N 79°49'48"E)
Page revisions
14 March 2024
Current version
