Lally, Thomas Arthur, baron de Tollendal, comte de

Lally, Thomas Arthur, baron de Tollendal, comte de (tômä' ärtür' bärôN du tôläNdäl' kôNt du lälē') [key], 1702–66, French general; son of an Irish Jacobite resident in France. As commander of a French expedition to India at the beginning of the Seven Years War, he failed to take Madras (now Chennai; 1758–59) and had to surrender to the English at Pondichéry (now Puducherry). This defeat put an end to the French empire in India. Taken prisoner and than paroled, Lally returned to France to answer charges of treason. After imprisonment for more than two years, he was tried, and although the procedure of the trial was universally criticized, he was executed. With the help of such notables as Voltaire, he was later vindicated.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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