1776 A Chorographical Map of the Province of New York in North America
DESCRIPTION
A monumental and highly detailed map of the Hudson River corridor, surveyed by Claude Joseph Sauthier and published in London in 1776, capturing the single most important geographic axis in British strategy during the American Revolutionary War.
Extending from New York Harbor northward to Fort Edward and onward via Lakes George and Champlain toward Canada, the map illustrates the full length of the critical invasion route the British hoped would divide the colonies. Its scope reflects the strategic vision of controlling the Hudson–Champlain corridor as a means of isolating New England and suppressing the rebellion.
Precision and Military Intelligence
Divided into three panels to accommodate its sweeping geography, the map presents New York City and harbor in the south, the Hudson Valley and Mohawk River junction at its center, and the northern lakes extending to Fort Chambly near Montreal. Rivers, tributaries, and shorelines are rendered with exceptional care, including depth soundings, shoals, and navigational hazards, underscoring its practical use for military and naval operations.
Forts, roads, ferry crossings, and industrial sites are carefully plotted throughout, reflecting Sauthier’s role as a military surveyor. Notations referencing key events, including the early campaigns around New York and Lake Champlain, further embed the map within the unfolding conflict, transforming it from a geographic document into an active instrument of war.
A Theater of Campaigns
The region depicted here witnessed some of the most consequential movements of the Revolutionary War, including British advances south from Canada and American resistance along Lake Champlain. The map captures the terrain over which forces under British General Guy Carleton and American leaders such as Benedict Arnold maneuvered, highlighting the corridor’s central role in the campaigns of 1776 and 1777.
Issued by the leading London publisher William Faden, Geographer to the King, the map exemplifies the highest standards of British military cartography of the period. Its publication coincided with the earliest phases of the war, when accurate geographic intelligence was essential to both planning and execution.
Among Revolutionary War maps, this work stands as one of the most comprehensive and strategically significant depictions of the Hudson River corridor, combining scientific surveying with the immediate demands of empire and war.
CONDITION
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