Colonel Sir John Braithwaite (1739-1803), Madras European Regiment, 1780 (c)

Miniature, watercolour on ivory, artist unknown, 1790 (c). Originally in a glazed, gilded wooden frame.

Quarter length portrait of an officer in uniform.

Colonel (later Major General) Sir John Braithwaite, 1st Baronet Braithwaite (1739-1803) was the only son of Colonel John Braithwaite. He was only a year old when his father was murdered by privateers in 1740.

Braithwaite was commissioned as an ensign in the 53rd Regiment of Foot in 1765. He served in India, promoted to the rank of lieutenant-colonel in 1772. During the 2nd Mysore War (1780-1784) he was captured at Seringapatam in February 1782. In 1792 Braithwaite became acting Commander-in-Chief of the Madras Army, commanding at the Siege of Pondicherry in 1793, during the Wars of the French Revolution (1792-1802). He went on to serve in the 4th Mysore War (1799). He became Commander-in-Chief of the Madras Army in January 1800. He died at home in London in 1803.