This 18th-century map depicts the theater of war in and around New York Island during the American Revolutionary War, published in London by John Stedman. Originally drawn by Claude Sauthier in 1777, the map provides a detailed and accurate illustration of upper Manhattan, extending from Haerlem and McGowan’s Pass in the south to Tetard's Hill in the north. It includes the Redoubt, Fort Lee (or Fort Constitution) on the west bank of the Hudson River, Fort Washington, and numerous battle details on the east side of the Hudson. Widely regarded as the best contemporary plan of the battle, it is an essential historical record of one of the pivotal moments in the war.
The map illustrates the four phases of the British attack on Fort Washington using letters A through D. A key at the right identifies these phases: the first attack by General Knyphausen, the second by Matthews and Cornwallis, the third as a feint, and the fourth by Lord Percy. Sauthier’s map captures the tactical movements with precision, making it an invaluable resource for understanding the British strategy.
In the context of the battle, after British forces occupied New York City, General Washington evacuated the majority of his forces from Manhattan, leaving only Fort Washington at the island’s northern tip. Despite holding the fort, Washington’s decision not to evacuate it proved to be one of his most significant tactical errors of the war. On November 16, 1776, the British, under General Howe, mounted a coordinated six-column assault on Fort Washington, resulting in its surrender. Nearly 3,000 American soldiers were captured, along with significant supplies and weapons. Four days later, General Cornwallis captured Fort Lee on the opposite shore, though the American forces there had retreated.
This second printing of the map was specifically designed for inclusion in Charles Stedman’s The History of the Origin, Progress, and Termination of the American War, which Sabin describes as "the best contemporary account of the Revolution written from the British side." Stedman, a Loyalist from Philadelphia, continued his interest in the war long after leaving America. British printers, including Faden, Dury, Lodge, and Sayer, were keen to disseminate detailed accounts and maps of the conflict, making this map a vital part of the historical narrative.
William Faden (1749-1836) was the most prominent London mapmaker and publisher of the late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth centuries. His father, William Mackfaden, was a printer who dropped the first part of his last name due to the Jacobite rising of 1745.
Apprenticed to an engraver in the Clothworkers' Company, he was made free of the Company in August of 1771. He entered into a partnership with the family of Thomas Jeffreys, a prolific and well-respected mapmaker who had recently died in 1771. This partnership lasted until 1776.
Also in 1776, Faden joined the Society of Civil Engineers, which later changed its name to the Smeatonian Society of Civil Engineers. The Smeatonians operated as an elite, yet practical, dining club and his membership led Faden to several engineering publications, including canal plans and plans of other new engineering projects.
Faden's star rose during the American Revolution, when he produced popular maps and atlases focused on the American colonies and the battles that raged within them. In 1783, just as the war ended, Faden inherited his father's estate, allowing him to fully control his business and expand it; in the same year he gained the title "Geographer in Ordinary to his Majesty."
Faden also commanded a large stock of British county maps, which made him attractive as a partner to the Ordnance Survey; he published the first Ordnance map in 1801, a map of Kent. The Admiralty also admired his work and acquired some of his plates which were re-issued as official naval charts.
Faden was renowned for his ingenuity as well as his business acumen. In 1796 he was awarded a gold medal by the Society of Arts. With his brother-in-law, the astronomer and painter John Russell, he created the first extant lunar globe.
After retiring in 1823 the lucrative business passed to James Wyld, a former apprentice. He died in Shepperton in 1826, leaving a large estate.