£2,600
** THE 7 YEARS WAR - FONTENILLE CORRESPONDENCE - PONDICHERRY P.O.W. CAMP COVER TO FRANCE REF RECENT SIEGE & SURRENDER; Extraordinary 10 Feb. 1761 EL (full typed transcript) from "Fontenille" in Prison in "Pondichery" to his uncle in Floransac (with manuscript "20" charge but no handstruck marks) giving news of his being taken prisoner following the recently ended Siege of Pondicherry in which he and the other French soldiers had had to eat cats, rats and crows. The contents include; "M. de Lally [French Commander of Pondicherry, 1702-66] has done so well that he has just lost the last Colony that we had in India The English put us in the bag all I ask of you is a shirt, some bread and wine when you learn that after a month of blockade by land and sea. We had been reduced to eat not only horses, camels, donkeys, oxen and buffalo, but also crows, cats, dogs and rats, with a quarter of a pound of rice per day. We lasted from the 1st month of November [1760] until the 15th of January [1761] I believe that I have proven myself by having two bullet wounds; one through the arm and the other in the neck... [P.S.] Colonel de Jumiliac has been kind enough to take charge of this letter." An exceptional graphic account of the important Siege of Pondicherry. Unique(?) 7 Years War POW cover from India! [Not recorded in MFPWE.] Cross Reference: INDIA, MILITARY - P.O.W. MAIL, FRENCH COLONIES, FRANCE
Fees apply to the hammer price:
Free Registration
24% inc VAT*
