Battle of Madras

Surrender of The City of Madras 1746, by Jacques François Joseph Swebach

Date	7–9 September 1746
Location	Madras, Madras Presidency, India
Result	French victory

Belligerents

Great Britain

France

Commanders and leaders

Nicholas Morse

Bertrand-François Mahé de La Bourdonnais

Joseph François Dupleix

Strength

300

The Battle of Madras or Fall of Madras took place in September 1746 during the War of the Austrian Succession when a French force attacked and captured the city of Madras from its British garrison.

French forces occupied Madras until the end of hostilities when it was exchanged for the British conquest of Louisbourg in North America as part of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. One of the British defenders, Robert Clive made his name by escaping from the French captors and carrying news of the city's fall to his superiors at Fort St David.

Since the 1720s the colonial rivalry between Britain and France in India had been growing in intensity. Following the French decision to join the War of the Austrian Succession on the opposing side to Britain, the British despatched a Royal Navy squadron under Commodore Curtis Barnett to raid and harass French settlements in India. During 1745 this force attacked a number of French ships, disrupting commerce, and ruining several leading French merchants.

In response the French despatched a similarly-sized fleet under the Bertrand-François Mahé de La Bourdonnais. After fighting an inconclusive battle the two fleets withdrew to repair, with the British retreating to Ceylon and the French using their base at Pondicherry. Wary of fighting another major naval battle - the British commander, Edward Peyton, chose to stay away from the Coramandel coast and withdrew to the safety of Bengal, leaving the British settlements on the Coramandel badly exposed to the French.

...
Wikipedia