War of the Austrian Succession (1740-8)
Includes much of the mapping collected by William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, as Captain General of the British army
Map of the siege of Menen, 1744 (Menen, Flanders, Belgium) 50°47'50"N 03°07'20"E
c.1759Etching and engraving; printed on paper; hand-coloured | Scale: 1:10,600 approx. | RCIN 729001.b
A large-scale plan of the siege of Menen showing, coloured in yellow, the French approach works. Menen was the first obstacle to an army coming from the south, and it fell to the Fren'ch on 5 June. This success was followed by three further successful sieges of Ypres, 15-24 June (RCIN 729001.c, RCIN 729018); Knokke, 29 June (RCIN 729001.d) and Furnes, 7-10 July (RCIN 729001.e, RCIN 729026). These last three fortresses had been designed by Vauban to form an impassable wall to invaders from the south. The vaunted fastnesses of Vauban were perishing like pricked bubbles, and the whole southern sector of maritime Flanders was in French hands.' (Browning 1995, p.173.)
From: l'Histoire des Conquêtes de LOUIS XV. by Pierre Du Mortous: Paris, de Lormel, 1759. This plate is one of 24 siege plans, stitched together with the general index map at the beginning (RCIN 729001.a).
For further reading, see:
R. Browning, The War of the Austrian Succession, New York, 1995.
Condition: flat, no fold lines.
Pierre du Mortous (active 1750s) (author)
Jean-Geoffrey Striedbeck (1707-72) (engraver) [bottom right, below edge of border:] J. Striedbeck. sculps. Argent.
? P de Lormel (active 1759-93) (publisher)
Subject(s)
Army-FranceWatermark: The sun's face with ten rays
Condition: flat, no fold lines
Scale: 1:10,600 approx. Scale bar: [55 mm =] 300 Toises.
22.4 x 30.8 cm (platemark)
21.7 x 29.8 cm (image)
20.4 x 29.4 cm (neatline)
24.5 x 39.8 cm (sheet)
Printed title:
PLAN / des / ATTAQUES / de / MENIN / en / 1744. [bottom centre, in ornate cartouche embellished with the artefacts of war]
Printed title:
Pl .1. [top right, above edge of border]
George III catalogue entry:
Netherlands Theatre de la derniere Guerre de Flandres, contenant une Carte generale et 24 Plans des Villes assiegées pendant les années 1744, 5, 6, 7 et 8. oblong 4.to
Subject(s)
Menen, Flanders, Belgium (50°47'50"N 03°07'20"E)
Bibliographic reference(s)
R. Browning, The War of the Austrian Succession, New York, 1995
Page revisions
5 June 2024
Current version
