1787 Soules Map of Yorktown Showing the Final Battle of the American Revolution

Final Battle of the American Revolutionary War.

An important 1787 American Revolutionary War map by F. Soulés illustrating the Battle of Yorktown, the last major conflict of the war.

A Closer Look

The map centers on the battleground just south of Yorktown on the shores of the York River. Gloucester is apparent just across the river. Finely engraved detail is exhibited throughout with fields, swamps, roads, and houses noted. The map was most likely drawn by Querenet de la Combe, a French officer commanding the French Royal Corps of Engineers at the Siege of Yorktown.

The Battle

The Battle of Yorktown, also known as the Siege of Yorktown, was a decisive victory by a combined force of American Continental Army troops led by General George Washington and French Army troops led by the Comte de Rochambeau over a British Army commanded by British lord and Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis. The culmination of the Yorktown campaign, the siege proved to be the last major land battle of the American Revolutionary War in the North American theater, as the surrender by Cornwallis, and the capture of both him and his army, prompted the British government to negotiate an end to the conflict.

Publication History and Census

This map is based upon a 1781 French manuscript map housed in the Rochambeau Collection (Mss. 59) at the Library of Congress. It was issued in the second edition of François Soulés' Histoire des troubles de l'Amerique Anglais. The first edition, published in 1785 did not contain maps. Thomas Jefferson, after reading the 1785 edition, approached Soulés with suggestions for updates and revisions. He delivered his proposed corrections in 1786, in time for them to be incorporated into a new 1787 edition. The new version, with Jefferson's edits, was much improved with maps as well as a chapter on Jefferson's efforts to reform the laws of Virginia during the Revolution.

The separate map is poorly represented in OCLC, but Soulés Histoire is well represented.

Cartographers

François Soulès (1748-1809) was a French author and historian, primarily known for his Histoire des Troubles de l'Amérique Anglaise, a history of the American Revolution. He also wrote on government in general and parliamentary law, in particular. He also produced a translation of Thomas Paine's Rights of Man, and a French grammar.   Further Details...

Guillaume Querenet de la Combe (1731-1788) was a French officer, engineer and member of the Society of the Cincinnati. He was second in command of the French Engineers under Rochambeau, fought at the Siege of Yorktown, and produced at least one manuscript plan of that battle, which survives in the Rochambeau collection of the Library of Congress.   Further Details...

Source

Soulés, F., Histoire des troubles de l'Amerique Anglais, (Paris: Buisson) 1787.    

Condition

Very good.

References

Nebenzahl, K., A Bibliography of Printed Battle Plans of the American Revolution 1775-1795, 185. Verner, C., Maps of the Yorktown campaign, 1780-1781, XII. Phillips (Virginia) p. 61. Library of Congress, Rochambeau collection Mss. 59, G3884.Y6S3 1781 .Q41. OCLC 49048772. Cogliano, F. D., Thomas Jefferson: Reputation and Legacy, p. 45.