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Battle of Yorktown/ American Revolution. MONDHARE, Louis Joseph [Paris, c. 1781] Reddition de l'Armée Angloises Commandée par Mylord Comte de Cornwallis aux Armees Combinées des Etats Unis de l'Amérique et de France aux ordres des Generaux Washington et de Rochambeau a Yorck Touwn et Glocester dans la Virginie, le 19 Octobre 1781. 13 ½ x 20 ½ inches. Etching with fine period hand color; reinforced at bottom & top of centerfold & with old paper along part of platemark at right on verso, tape stain top center & scattered, relatively light stain elsewhere, overall very good. This is the only obtainable printed view of the of the Yorktown battlefield of the period--shown here at the time of the surrender. Although this highly dramatic rendering of the surrender is imaginary in many of its details, it was nevertheless the only view of the subject catalogued by Cresswell in his thorough work on prints and drawings of the Revolution --see below. (He notes a few engravings of the surrender depicting only the principles.) For obvious reasons, the British did not create any contemporary broadsides commemorating this monumental loss, contributing to the rarity of such images. This etched view was described in 1903 as "excessively rare" (see the second internet reference below), and only a few examples have appeared on the market in the last several decades. OCLC locates institutional examples only at LC, Brown and Penn State. This work has become an iconic image of the American Revolution, and examples of it have been displayed prominently in virtually every major exhibition relating to the war. It in fact occupied the cover of the catalogue for the Library of Congress' Bicentennial exhibition on the war--see the reference below. The view's animated though largely imaginary scene, here enlivened with vibrant period color, depicts an apocryphal moment after Cornwallis' surrender to Washington, with the French and American armies arrayed in formation. Its focal point is Washington on a dramatically rearing horse, from whom two figures in capes can be seen walking away. Rochambeau, also on horseback, faces Washington with his cap doffed in salute. The work was clearly made for the French market and celebrates the French role in the victory, particularly in the image of the outsized French ships looming off shore. The town of Yorktown appears in the background as a fortified European-styled city. The title translates as follows: Surrender of the English Army Commanded by Mylord Count of Cornwallis to Combined Armies of the United States of America and France by the orders of Generals Washington and Rochambeau to York Town and Gloucester in Virginia, October 19, 1781. The key locates the following positions: • The American Army is shown at the top, in red • French Troops in Blue • The English are shown marching out of Yorktown (C) • Comte De Grace and the French Fleet in the foreground at the right. • The Weapons surrendered by the British are in the center, in yellow. Yorktown Siege & Surrender of Cornwallis By May, 1781, Virginia had become the main theater of war in America. The small allied force under the Marquis de Lafayette was no match for the combined British armies commanded by Lord Cornwallis and Benedict Arnold. Much of eastern Virginia, particularly the country along the James was ravaged. In June, Cornwallis moved towards Williamsburg and Yorktown with instructions to establish a post at the mouth of Chesapeake Bay. He was closely shadowed by Lafayette at a distance of about twenty miles to the north. In August, General Washington, then positioned on the Hudson River, received word that the French Admiral Comte de Grasse had left the West Indies with a fleet of twenty-eight ships of the line, six frigates, and three thousand troops bound for the Chesapeake Bay. Washington and the French Commander, Rochambeau, abandoned their plan to attack New York and marched their troops to Virginia. De Grasse arrived at the Chesapeake on August 26th, disembarked his troops and blocked the entrance to the bay. The British Navy, led by Admiral de Graves, arrived in Virginia in early September. In the subsequent battle, the British fleet was heavily damaged, and withdrew to New York. By September 26th, the American army had arrived and soon entrapped the British Army in Yorktown. The resulting siege ended with the British surrender on October 18, 1781. Cresswell, D. The American Revolution in Drawings & Prints, no. 326; Library of Congress Exhibition Catalogue To Set a Country Free, Illustrated on cover and p. 69; BPL Exhibition Catalogue We are One: http://www.bpl.org/exhibitions/past-exhibitions/we-are-one/view-the-exhibition-3/we-are-one-78/
Price: $35,000.00