Fine example of the Stedman edition of Faden's map of the Battle of New York, first published in London in 1777.
The map illustrates Howe's New York campaign, with the landing on Long Island, the victory in the battle of Long Island, and pursuit of the American forces north to Fort Washington. Faden's map was frequently revised as the campaign progressed, this being the fifth and final state, showing the American retreat northwards to Fort Washington.
Faden's map illustrates an important early battle during the American Revolution, when the American success and resolve were far from certain. The map was drawn from the work of a British military engineer, Claude Joseph Sauthier, who participated in the campaigns.
Nebenzahl calls the map one of the "most informative" of all the early Revolutionary War battle plans. It was printed in London a remarkably short period of time after the events depicted on it transpired-a matter of just a few months.
The plan shows the period when the American army, still hurting from its defeat on Manhattan Island in September of 1776, was retreating to Westchester. The vastly superior British forces were in pursuit, looking for the opportunity to crush the American army and end the war. The campaign involved complex amphibious landings by the British in the Bronx and Westchester, reprising the type of maneuvers that led to the overwhelming success of the British in the Battle of Brooklyn.
Faden's map depicts the various campaigns of October and November 1776, in northern Manhattan, lower Westchester, and New Jersey. "It is the most accurate published delineation of the movements of the armies of Washington and Howe in Westchester, from the time of the British landing through November 28, particularly focusing on the Battle of White Plains" (Nebenzahl, Atlas). Clearly delineated are British and Hessian troop landings in the area of Mamaroneck, Larchmont, New Rochelle, Pelham Manor, and the Bronx. Also shown is Cornwallis' capture of Fort Lee and the beginning of his pursuit of Washington's army through New Jersey that would end in Washington's storied crossing of the Delaware River.
The Battle of White Plains, could easily have ended the war, as Washington had massed most of his army. The battle was fought to a relative standstill, due to the skill of American soldiers fighting from good defensive positions and to the disinclination of General Howe to aggressively pursue the engagement after early successes. The British failed to consolidate their gains and Washington's Army lived to fight another day.
Stedman's map is published from the same copperplate as the 5th edition of Faden's, with the addition of the reference to Stedman's History of the American War and a revised date (April 12th, 1793).
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.