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Mss Eur Orme OV.278
- Record Id:
- 040-003677751
- Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:
- 032-002305428
- MDARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100104443778.0x000001
- LARK:
- SLARK:
- Format:
- ISAD(G)
- Reference (shelfmark):
- Mss Eur Orme OV.278
- Title:
- Major Preston's Letter Book whilst he commanded at Chingleput; and a criticism of the published account of the seige of Madras by Count Lally
- Scope & Content:
- p. 2. Contents.
- 1, pp. 3-31. Letters to Major Preston in 1758 to 1759, whilst he commanded at Chingleput. Apparently Preston's Letter Book, as on page 2 there is a note as follows:- "These were transmitted by Messrs. Turner and Floyer, his executors in India, home to me A.W. one of his executors in England in 1765 after his unfortunate death before Madura in July 1764." The letters are official letters from the Governor, the Council of Madras, Mr. Call (the Chief Engineer), Major Caillaud, and a private letter, dated 4 Jan. 1759, from Mr. Henry Vansittart (see p.22) who is anxious for his wife's safety, owing to the seizure of Sadras by the French. In his letter of the 20th Jan. 1759 (p. 36) Caillaud expresses himself very unfavourably of the Sepoys:- "I never depended upon sepoys, yet they sometimes by chance behave tolerably, but oftener by choice very ill. All the service I expect from them according to Hudibras is, That they who fight and run away may live to fight another day." These letters begin with the 1st May 1758 and end with the 21st Feb. 1759, i.e., they cover the siege of Madras, Preston having been left at Chingleput to command, in conjunction with Muhammad Yusuf Khan, a flying force intended to harass the French during their siege operations.
- 2, p. 33. Cutting from the [Public] Advertiser of the 24th Oct. 1766. Containing a criticism signed W.D. (? Colonel William Draper) of the account of the siege of Madras contained in the Memoirs of Count Lally, printed in London by Charles Kiernan, 1766. The writer says that Lally's failure was primarily due to his neglect of Chingleput: "His neglect of that place was his original Sin, and ought to be a standing lesson to all officers not to be guilty of such omissions. What General Lally says of the Country's being lost the moment Count d'Aché ceased to support him is true enough: qui Dominus est maris, imperator est terrae."
- Collection Area:
- India Office Records and Private Papers
- Project / Collection:
- India Office Private Papers
- Hierarchy Record Ids:
- 032-002305428
033-003394094
040-003677751 - Is part of:
- Mss Eur Orme : Robert Orme papers.
Mss Eur Orme OV. : Orme Various
Mss Eur Orme OV.278 : Major Preston's Letter Book whilst he commanded at Chingleput; and a criticism of the published account of the seige of… - Hierarchy:
- 032-002305428[0001]/033-003394094[0249]/040-003677751
- Container:
- View / search within Archive / Collection: Mss Eur Orme
- Record Type (Level):
- File
- Extent:
- 1 part, pp. 50
- Digitised Content:
- Languages:
- English
- Scripts:
- Latin
- Start Date:
- 1758
- End Date:
- 1766
- Date Range:
- 1758-1766
- Era:
- CE
- Access:
-
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- User Conditions:
- Physical Characteristics:
-
Dimensions: 30 x 20 cm and 43.5 x 20.5 cm. Pages 33 to 50 are blank.
Binding: Vellum bound volume. The part is bound with numbers 274, 275, 276 and 277.
- Material Type:
- Archives and Manuscripts
- Legal Status:
- Not Public Record(s)