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Battle of Brandywine/ American Revolution. FADEN, William [London, 1778] Battle of Brandywine in which The Rebels were defeated…21 x 17 inches. Troop positions in original color; light staining (from candle wax?) in lower margin, else fine condition with a strong impression. The battle was also an all-star affair in terms of the leadership present. In addition to the commanders, Washington and William Howe, several well known figures played important roles in the battle, including for the British, Charles, Lord Cornwallis and the Hessian, Wilhelm von Knyphausen, who had been a principal player in the New York campaigns, and on the American side, the Marquis de Lafayette, who was wounded in the battle, and the American generals Nathanael Greene and Anthony Wayne. Nebanzahl, K. Atlas of the American Revolution, Map 24; Nebenzahl, K. Bibliography of Printed Plans, no. 126, first state.
The first state in a fine example of this precisely engraved map of the militarily complex and consequential battle fought in an area about 20 miles west of Philadelphia. The Battle of Brandywine of September 11, 1778 was the key engagement leading to the British takeover of Philadelphia. It involved large forces on both sides, roughly equal in number, each about 15,000 strong. The plan clearly lays out the complex maneuvers of battle as well as vividly depicting the difficult, hilly terrain on which it was fought. Given the size of the forces involved, the Battle of Brandywine could easily have been a turning point in the war. Instead, it repeated the pattern of the Battle of Long Island of a year earlier, in which American forces were badly outmaneuvered but still survived without crippling losses, thus being able to continue the fight. Yet Brandywine can still be characterized as pivotal in that it enabled the British occupation of Philadelphia, the birthplace and center of leadership of the American cause. Furthermore, the battle’s inconclusiveness virtually assured a long war.
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