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MAP #: 281F5

CARTOGRAPHER : FADEN, WILLIAM [PUBLISHER]

DATE: 1781

SHORT TITLE : A PLAN OF THE ENTRANCE OF CHESAPEAK BAY,

REMAINING TITLE & ID : WITH JAMES AND YORK RIVERS; WHEREIN ARE SHEWN THE RESPECTIVE POSITIONS (IN THE BEGINNING OF OCTOBER) 1.o OF THE BRITISH ARMY COMMANDED BY LORD CORNWALLIS, AT GLOUCESTER AND YORK IN VIRGINIA; 2.o OF THE AMERICAN AND FRENCH FORCES UNDER GENERAL WASHINGTON, 3.o OF THE FRENCH FLEET UNDER COUNT DE GRASSE. "BY AN OFFICER" (TOP LEFT CORNER). "LONDON. PUBLISH'D BY WM. FADEN CHARING CROSS, NOV.r 26th 1781." (UNDER SCALE IN THE TOP LEFT CORNER UNDER TITLE). THERE IS NOTHING IN THE MARGINS. LONGITUDE AND LATITUDE (NOT SHOWN).

DATE OF PUBLICATION : S1781
PLACE OF PUBLICATION : LONDON
PUBLISHER : WILLIAM FADEN
LANGUAGE(S) : EN
SIZE (HEIGHT X WIDTH) : 40.4 X 51.3 CM.
SIZE - OTHER DATA : ? X ? CM. OM
SCALE - (RF) 1: : 104,600
SCALE - OTHER DATA : 2 17/32 = 10 MILES
LIB. OF CONGRESS # : -
Md. HALL OF RECORDS # 1 : MSA SC1399-68
HUNTINGFIELD ACQ. # 1 : N020-NDD1
REGION CATEGORY : DETAILED MAP OF SOME PART OF THE MD/CHESAPEAKE AREA (2)
SPECIAL CATEGORY(IES) : YORKTOWN CAMPAIGN (1)
# SHEETS TO MAP : 1
MAP ORIENTATION : N IS AT THE TOP OF THE MAP
RELIEF SHOWN ? : YES
HYDROGRAPHIC DATA : SHOALS ARE SHOWN BY DOTTED LINES AND BY SHADING.
: SOUNDINGS ARE SHOWN IN FATHOMS.
CARTOUCHE : NONE (1)
BORDER : PLAIN (2)
PRIME MERIDIAN(S) : NONE
SEE ALSO MAP #s : -
BEST INFO SOURCE : NEBENZAHL'S ATLAS AND BIOGRAPHY AND VERNER'S MCS # 18 ARE THE BEST FOUND.
DESCRIPTION : THIS MAP IS IMPORTANT BECAUSE IT WAS A TIMELY AND CLEAR RENDERING OF THE BATTLE POSITIONS JUST A FEW DAYS PRIOR TO THE SURRENDER OF CORNWALLIS. THE BATTLE POSITIONS ARE SHOWN AS OF THE BEGINNING OF OCTOBER AND CORNWALLIS ASKED FOR SURRENDER TERMS ON OCTOBER 17TH AND THEY WERE SETTLED UPON AND EXECUTED ON OCTOBER 19TH, TERMINATING THE LAST MAJOR ACTION OF THE BRITISH ARMY IN NORTH AMERICA IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. THE END OF THE WAR AND RECOGNITION OF THE INDEPENDENCE OF THE UNITED STATES WERE BOTH IN SIGHT. WHEN THE MAP WAS ISSUED IN LONDON ON NOVEMBER 26, 1781, CORNWALLIS HAD ALREADY SURRENDERED AT YORKTOWN, BUT THIS FACT COULD NOT HAVE BEEN KNOWN AT THAT TIME IN BRITAIN.

THE MAP IS A LARGE SCALE REPRESENTATION OF THE HAMPTON ROADS AREA FROM WILLIAMSBURG TO THE OCEAN AND FROM SUFFOLK, VIRGINIA TO THE RAPPAHANNOCK RIVER JUNCTION WITH THE CHESAPEAKE BAY. THE ROUTE OF THE MARCH BY THE ALLIED FRENCH AND AMERICAN ARMIES FROM WILLIAMSBURG TO YORKTOWN IS SHOWN. THE DEGRASSE FLEET AND DEBARRAS SQUADRON ARE SHOWN, ALONG WITH FRENCH ARMED FRIGATES ON THE JAMES RIVER, A NUMBER OF SHIPS OFF POINT COMFORT AT THE MOUTH OF THE JAMES, AND FRIGATES ON THE YORK RIVER A SHORT DISTANCE FROM TOWN. THE ENTRENCHED POSITIONS OF THE AMERICAN AND FRENCH FORCES AT YORKTOWN AND GLOUCESTER ARE DEPICTED. ONE UNSUCCESSFUL ATTEMPT WAS MADE TO BREAK THE SEIGE, THEN CORNWALLIS TRIED TO CROSS TO THE GLOUCESTER SIDE AND ESCAPE TO THE NORTH, BUT THIS FAILED IN A STORM WHICH SWAMPED THE BOATS.

THIS PRINTED MAP IS BASED ON A MANUSCRIPT MAP NOW IN THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. IT WAS INITIALLY ISSUED BY WM. FADEN ON NOVEMBER 26, 1781 AS A SEPARATE. IN 1793, FADEN INCORPORATED IT IN HIS ATLAS OF BATTLES OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. IT IS LISTED IN FADEN'S CATALOGUE OF 1822 (P. 15) WHERE IT WAS PRICED FOR 1 SHILLING. THE ATLAS CONTAINING THIS MAP WAS REISSUED IN 1845 IN NEW YORK BY BARTLETT & WELFORD. SABIN (2309) NOTES: "A NEW YORK FIRM PURCHASED A LARGE REMAINDER OF THESE MAPS, AND ISSUED THEM WITH THE ABOVE TITLE PAGE. THEIR EDITION IS DISTINGUISHED BY THE BROAD LETTERS WITH WHICH THE TITLE IS PRINTED, AND THE OMISSION OF THE PLACE AND DATE OF PUBLICATION."

DATA IS FROM NEBENZAHL'S ATLAS AND BIBLIOGRAPHY, VERNER'S "MAPS OF THE YORKTOWN CAMPAIGN AND FROM OBSERVATION OF THE COPY IN THE HUNTINGFIELD COLLECTION.

EDITION & STATE INFO : TWO EDITIONS ARE KNOWN, IN ADDITION TO THE MANUSCRIPT MAP FROM WHICH THIS PRINTED MAP IS TAKEN. THE MANUSCRIPT MAP, ACCORDING TO VERNER, IS IN THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.

ED. 1 - (1781) - THIS IS THE MAP AS DESCRIBED HEREIN. IT WAS ORIGINALLY ISSUED AS A SEPARATE BY FADEN ON NOV. 26, 1781. IN 1793, IT WAS INCORPORATED INTO FADEN'S ATLAS OF THE BATTLES OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, BUT NO DIFFERENCES ARE KNOWN BETWEEN THE TWO ISSUES. THE 1793 ISSUE MAY HAVE BEEN REMAINDER STOCK FROM THE ORIGINAL ISSUE. THE SAME MAP WAS ALSO ADVERTISED IN THE FADEN CATALOG IN 1822 (P. 15) FOR A PRICE OF ONE SHILLING. ANY CHANGES IN STATE ARE UNKNOWN. A COPY IS AT COLONIAL WILLIAMSBURG (ACC # 1958-407).

ED. 2 - (1845) - THE FADEN ATLAS WAS REISSUED IN 1845 IN NEW YORK BY BARTLETT & WELFORD. THIS EDITION IS DISTINGUISHED BY THE BROAD LETTERS WITH WHICH THE TITLE IS PRINTED AND BY THE OMISSION OF THE PLACE AND DATE OF PUBLICATION.

DATA IS PRIMARILY FROM VERNER'S "MAPS OF THE BATTLE OF YORKTOWN".

HFC OWNERSHIP DATA : THE HUNTINGFIELD COLLECTION HAS A STRONG BLACK AND WHITE IMPRESSION OF THIS MAP AS DESCRIBED (EDITION 1). IT HAS NO WATERMARK. IT HAS AN ACQ. # OF N020-NDD1 AND A MDHR # OF MSA SC1399-68.

BIBLIGRAPHICAL REFS. : NEBENZAHL, KENNETH, ATLAS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, CHICAGO: RAND MCNALLY & CO., 1974, # 46; NEBENZAHL, KENNETH, A BIBLIOGRAPHY OF PRINTED BATTLE PLANS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 1775-1795, CHICAGO: THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS, 1975, 118, # 186; VERNER, COOLIE, "MAPS OF THE YORKTOWN CAMPAIGN", IN MAP COLLECTORS SERIES # 18, LONDON: MAP COLLECTORS CIRCLE, 1965, 31,34; PENNSYLVANIA MAGAZINE OF HISTORY & BIOGRAPHY, # 51, (1927), OPP. 193 - (REPRODUCTION); PHILLIPS, PHILIP LEE, VIRGINIA CARTOGRAPHY, A BIOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION, WASHINGTON: SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION (MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS, VOL. XXXVII), 1896, 61; PHILLIPS, PHILIP LEE, A LIST OF GEOGRAPHICAL ATLASES IN THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, AMSTERDAM: THEATRVM ORBIS TERRARVM, LTD., 1971, 739 # 1337, MAP # 24.

May 18, 1991


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