A Superb Revolutionary War Plan of Northern Manhattan

FADEN, W./ SAUTHIER, C. J. [London, March 1, 1777.]

New York City/ American Revolution.  FADEN, W./ SAUTHIER, C. J.  [London, March 1, 1777]  A Topographical Map of the Northn. part of New York Island, Exhibiting the Plan of Fort Washington… 18 ½ x 10 ¼ inches.  Fine original wash color; several closed splits but no losses, mounted on rice paper, overall a good, very attractive example.                                                                                                 
A precise, delicately engraved plan of the final campaign in the British conquest of Manhattan, showing the capture in mid November of 1776 of Fort Washington in northern Manhattan, the last American stronghold on the island.  The plan was published in London a mere two and a half months after the events depicted on it, a remarkably short period of time considering the average time to cross the Atlantic then was at least four weeks. 

The fort was located not far from where eastern tower of the George Washington Bridge now sits.  The highly detailed battle plan depicts the combined British and Hessian assault on the fort, a well-coordinated land and sea attack that resulted in a relatively easy victory. The decision to defend Fort Washington, which was an isolated outpost at the time, was arguably one of Washington’s worst decisions of the entire war, especially since so many of the fort’s defenders would die miserably in captivity. At the time of the attack, the American force at the fort was nearly 3000, a sizable percentage of the American army.  The American soldiers taken prisoner after the battle suffered an extremely harsh fate: many were held on prison ships in New York Harbor in the most deplorable conditions, where many died.  This was part of a pattern of British abuse of American prisoners during the war, which helped to sway neutrals to the American cause and further inflame those already in the American camp.

The plan also indicates the site of an earlier engagement at McGowan’s Pass, which can be seen in the southernmost part of the map—roughly at today’s 96^th Street, in what is now the northern section of Central Park.  This engagement occurred in September of 1776, prior to the main business of this map, and happened during the British pursuit of the retreating American Army.

In addition to being valuable as a battle plan, this is also the "most accurate delineation of Upper Manhattan to have been published up to this date" (Nebenzahl, Atlas).  It was based on new surveys of the area that were conducted right after the battle by Claude Joseph Sauthier, a very talented English engineer.  Thus, all the waterways, wetlands, rocky escarpments, and farmlands that characterized the pre-development topography of the area can be clearly seen here.  Also shown are roads, defensive emplacements, batteries, and a plan of the fort itself. 

Nebenzahl, Atlas, 14; Nebenzahl, Bibliography 119; Stokes, Iconography of Manhattan, pp. 355-356.

Price: $5,500.00