In the 1790s Great Britain was the largest colonial power on the Indian Subcontinent, its administration based at the port of Calcutta in Bengal, supported by the cities of Madras and Bombay and a network of subsidiary coastal trading stations.

[4] Pondicherry was formidably fortified, the extensive and modern defences designed by Camille Charles Leclerc, Chevalier de Fresne, but the garrison was far too small to effectively man the walls in the face of a determined siege.

[4] The French Navy presence in the Indian Ocean at the outbreak of war comprised the two frigates Cybèle and Prudente under Contre-amiral Saint-Félix but were not based in India at all, but on the distant Île de France (modern Mauritius).

Lord Cornwallis, brother to William, originally intended to participate in the surrender of Pondicherry himself in the seized French merchant ship Bien Aimé, but was eventually dissuaded.

[9] On closing with the French frigate, Cornwallis discovered that the East India Company ships supporting his blockade had become scattered, and in the delay gathering them Cybèle escaped pursuit.

[10] On 28 July, Braithwaite reached the city and established positions on the Red Hill overlooking Pondicherry, sending a demand to its commander Colonel Prosper de Chermont that he surrender.

The demand was refused, and Braithwaite ordered detachments from the 71st and 74th Regiments of Foot to occupy positions to the south of the city's walls on 30 July, a manoeuvre which prompted heavy fire from the bastions.

[10] Attempts were then made to establish batteries to the west and north of the city, but these efforts were hampered by heavy rain, delaying the construction of defensive earthworks which allowed the garrison to maintain a constant fire on the work parties, which suffered consequent casualties.

[10] Operations to establish batteries on this front continued for several days even as losses mounted; on 15 August, Lieutenant Colonel George Maule, Braithwaite's chief engineer, was killed by cannon fire while returning from a night inspection of the trenches.

[10] de Chermont, isolated and unsupported, accepted the terms, and the following morning Braithwaite's army entered the city and took possession, although the French garrison had seized liquor supplies during the night and were too drunk to surrender formally.