Henri Crublier d'Opterre journal and maps, [1776]-1783.

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Henri Crublier d'Opterre journal and maps, [1776]-1783.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/84011589

The papers consist of Crublier d'Opterre's manuscript journal of the Yorktown siege bound with related papers, and his collection of fourteen manuscript and two printed Revolutionary War maps. Two of the maps are signed by Crublier d'Opterre. The journal, bound in marbled paper wrappers, covers the siege operations at Yorktown. Following the journal in the folio are French translations of letters by Washington to de Grasse before the battle of Yorktown, and to Congress announcing his victory; also letters from the French minister of War Ségur to Rochambeau and the head of the Corps of Engineers at Yorktown. The back of the folio contains Crublier d'Opterre's "Observations sur la lettre du general Cornwallis au general Clinton a New York," a narrative of the siege, with Crublier d'Opterre's detailed critique of the British defenses. The journal is accompanied by two manuscript maps, one of the mouth of Chesapeake Bay, with the positions of ships and troops, another of the town of Yorktown and environs, with positions of the armies. The manuscript maps, rendered in pen-and-ink, watercolor, or wash, depict the battles of Brandywine and Trenton; the siege of Savannah; plans of Manhattan (two maps: one map carrying the note that it was made in the presence of Generals Washington and Rochambeau); Newport; Portsmouth, New Hampshire; Portsmouth, Virginia; and West Point. The largest manuscript map, a copy of Peter Jefferson and Joshua Fry's Map of the most Inhabited part of Virginia, containing the whole province of Maryland, with part of Pensilvania New Jersey and North Carolina, contains manuscript annotations showing the route of the French army to and from Yorktown, and the march of Cornwallis' army. The printed maps are John Montrésor's Plan of the City of New York & Its Environs, London, [1776] and William Faden's The Province of New Jersey, [London], 1777. The New Jersey map is annotated with lines showing the route of the army during the reconnaisance of New York, the positions of the armies at the battle of Monmouth, Trenton, Princeton, Germantown, and Brandywine, and the encampment of Washington's army at Valley Forge.

0.10 linear ft. (1 box) + 16 maps.

Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library

Information

SNAC Resource ID: 8312040

Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library

Related Entities

There are 9 Entities related to this resource.

Rochambeau, Donatien Marie Joseph de Vimeur, vicomte de, 1750-1813

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Crublier d'Opterre, Henri, 1739-1799.

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Henri Crublier d'Opterre, a Lieutenant-Colonel of the Corps Royal de Génie, served in the French army under the command of the comte de Rochambeau in the American Revolution. Crublier d'Opterre arrived in America in 1780, was stationed at Newport and took part in the reconaissance of New York City and West Point. He marched with the army to Yorktown and took part in the siege there. After wintering at Williamsburg in 1781-1782, the army marched to Boston, and left the country in early 1783. ...

d'Opterre, Henry Crublier, b. 1739.

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Faden, William, 1749-1836

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Thomas Jefferys (b. 1755) was the son of Thomas Jefferys (ca. 1719-1771), a cartographer, publisher, and geographer to King George III. He was apprenticed to his father and oversaw the family business after his father's death. From 1771-1776, he had a business partnership with William Faden. William Faden was born in London in 1749, the son of William Faden, a printer. He was apprenticed to engraver James Wigley and joined the younger Thomas Jefferys in a business partne...

Montrésor, John, 1736-1799

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