Map of encampment at Diegem, 1745 (Diegem, Flanders, Belgium) 50°53'50"N 04°26'00"E

A map of the encampment of the Allied army, commanded by the Duke of Cumberland, along the Brussels Canal between Brussels and Willebroek, 14 July-24 October 1745. War of the Austrian Succession (1740-48). Oriented with west to top.

A detailed topographical map of the area bounded to the west by the Brussels Canal (now the Willebroekse Vaart), from Brussels in the south to its junction with the River Ruperl at Little Willebrocke (Klein Willebroek 51°04'47"N 04°21'49"E) in the north (a distance of about 22.5 km or 14 miles) and the River Senne (Zenne) to the east.

Greenish-blue washes are used to represent marshy land and a number of roads are shown in relation to the surrounding settlements, woodlands and arable land which is indicated by the conventional groups of brown lines at angles to each other. The encampments are shown along almost the whole length of this stretch of country, between the canal and the Zenne. The troop rectangles for the two camps are coloured according to nationality: British (red), Austrian (blue), and Hanoverian (yellow).

Cumberland had fallen back from the encampment at Meerbeke near Ninove (see RCIN 729131) and Dielegem (RCIN 729132) on hearing of the French capture of Ghent. There appears to be no record of an R. Robinson acting as an engineer and he may have been an officer of the line regiments who was graphically literate.

Condition: three fold lines; worn along central fold; small tears to bottom edge; small patches of paper loss due to erosion from the acid in the ink. Verso: induced discolouration; substantial brown discolouration; top, right of centre, water-stained patch, shadow, and fragments from the removal of Cumberland's cipher label.