Map of fortifications at Cayenne

Title Leupe: Plan van de stadt en vesting Cayenne.

In the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War (1780-1784), France was an ally of the Republic, and, as a far stronger naval and colonial power in this period, helped prevent the loss of Dutch colonies worldwide. From Surinam, the military engineer Johann Friedrich Ferdinand Wollant was sent to the neighbouring French colony of Cayenne to confer with the authorities there about reciprocal military aid (or rather, French assistance to the Dutch colonies) and the supply of French weapons, ammunition and food. During this mission, which lasted until the end of January 1782, as well as his other commissions, Wollant collected data for many of his maps and designs, including this map with fortification profiles of the capital Cayenne and its immediate environs.

Scale-bar of 150 Rids = 101 ‘strepen’.