Summary
Overview
Berthier, Louis-Alexandre,
1753-1815.
Louis-Alexandre Berthier Collection
1 linear feet, 14 custom portfolio cases, 1 half-size archival
box
Princeton University. Library. Dept. of Rare Books
and Special Collections
Manuscripts Division
One Washington Road
Princeton, New Jersey 08544 USA
Abstract
The collection consists primarily of a set of handcolored, topographical,
manuscript maps (111 of them), created by Louis-Alexandre Berthier, an officer on
General Rochambeau's staff, depicting the historic overland march of the French and
American forces from Philipsburg, New York, to Yorktown, Virginia, in 1781 and their
return march to Boston, Massachusetts, in 1782. Accompanying these maps is Berthier’s
journal (in French), providing a detailed description and explanation of the routes
covered by the maps. In addition, there are documents and memoranda concerning French
military events in America, Berthier’s departure from France in 1780, and his return to
France via the West Indies in 1782-1783.
Description
Description
Berthier's maps, numbering 111, are the most notable feature of the collection. They
do not comprise an atlas or a series of separate items, but, rather, they are the
consecutive record of that important and historic Revolutionary War military event,
the overland march of the French Army under Rochambeau (joined by American forces at
Philipsburg) from Newport to Yorktown during the summer and early autumn of 1781, and
the return march of the French Army from Virginia to Boston the following year, July
- December 1782. These were executed, presumably soon after the event, from
information and sketches made on the spot while Berthier was accompanying
Rochambeau's Army in America. The maps fall into two interrelated series: the first
showing the French Army's camp sites on the southward march from Newport, Rhode
Island, to Yorktown, Virginia, in 1781, and on the return march northward in the
summer and autumn of 1782; the second showing the "itineraries" or daily marches of
the Army (from Newport as far as Elkton, Maryland, in 1781; the daily marches for the
1782 northward journey are lacking among the Princeton papers.) Another set of
Berthier's maps is preserved among the Rochambeau Papers in the Library of Congress;
this set, although duplicating in part the Princeton set, is apparently less
complete
Although Berthier's maps are the most spectacular part of these papers at Princeton,
they cannot be fully appreciated without the accompanying textual material of his
journal (1780-1783), which provides a detailed description and explanation of the
routes covered by the maps. In addition, there are related manuscripts and documents,
including a letter (1785) from Rochambeau, notes on the history of Virginia, and
Berthier's journal of his later visit to Prussia (1783).
Collection Creator
Biography
Louis-Alexandre Berthier (1753-1815), one of the four sons of Jean-Baptiste Berthier,
was born in Versailles, where his father was in charge of the Royal Map Service. He
entered the army as a young man; in 1777, at the age of twenty-four, he attained the
rank of captain. In 1780 he asked to be assigned to Rochambeau's army which was
preparing to leave for America, and was offered a place on the staff of Count de
Saint-Maisme who commanded the Soissonais regiment. Through a series of mishaps and
misunderstandings (related in the journal in the Princeton Library), Berthier did not
leave with Rochambeau's army when it sailed from Brest in May 1780, but proceeded to
America via the West Indies and finally joined up with the army at Newport, Rhode
Island, on September 30, 1780.
In January 1781, Captain Berthier was assigned to the staff of General Rochambeau, as
"aide maréchal général des logis surnuméraire." In this capacity he accompanied the army
in 1781 on its march to Yorktown, and in 1782 on its return march to Boston, and thence
to the West Indies, before returning to France. In all, Berthier was in the United
States from September 30, 1780, until December 24, 1782.
After his return to France, Berthier was sent on a military mission to Prussia in 1783.
(The Journal of this mission is among the manuscripts at Princeton.) He continued to be
employed in staff posts, and to earn regular promotions. When the French Revolution came
he again saw active service in the field. In 1796 he accompanied General Bonaparte in
the Italian campaign, as chief of staff of the army. Henceforth, his fortunes were
linked to those of Bonaparte. Berthier participated in the coup d'état of the 18th
Brumaire (1799) which established the Consulate, and received the post of Minister of
War. Soon after Bonaparte became Emperor Napolean I, in 1804, he chose Berthier as one
of the eighteen army officers to be named Marshal of the Empire. Subsequently, Berthier
acquired other titles: Duke of Valangin, Price of Neufchâtel, Prince of Wagram. Marshal
Berthier was with Napolean in the campaigns of Austerlitz, Jena, and Friedland; he was
in the Peninsular Campaign (1808), the Austrian Campaign (1809), in Russia (1812),
Germany (1813), and France (1814). In 1814 he abandoned Napoleon, and died the following
year, on June 1, 1815, at Bamberg.
Note
These papers are housed in the original red portfolio cases (and order) in which they
were presented to the Library in 1939.
Collection History
Acquisition
These manuscripts of Louis-Alexandre Berthier were presented to Princeton in 1939 by Harry C. Black, Class of 1909.
They were purchased from Maggs Brothers, Ltd., of London, which had previously
acquired them from family archives preserved by Berthier’s descendents at the Chateau
de Grosbois in France.
More about the collection coming to Princeton can be found in Gilbert Chinard's
article "The Berthier Manuscripts: New Records of the French Army in the American
Revolution" in The Princeton University Library
Chronicle, Volume I, No. 1 (November 1939), pp. 3-8.
Processing Information
This collection was word-processed by Anna Bialek in
July and August of 2005. Finding
aid written by Howard Rice in 1957.
Bibliography
Berthier's journal and maps were translated and edited by Howard C. Rice, Jr., and
Anne S. K. Brown in their two-volume work The American
Campaigns of Rochambeau's Army 1780, 1781, 1782, 1783 (Princeton, N.J.:
Princeton University Press, 1972).
Bibliography
Rice and Brown cite several sources in their descriptions used in this finding
aid:
Berthier's journal: "Journal of Louis-Alexandre Berthier," which is translated
and edited by Rice/Brown in Volume 1 (pp. 189-282) of their 1972 work cited
above
Chastellux: Travels in North America in the Years 1780,
1781 and 1782 by the Marquis de Chastellux (Chapel Hill: University of
North Carolina Press, 1963), a revised translation with introduction by Howard C.
Rice, Jr.
Clermont-Crèvecœur's journal: "Journal of Jean-François-Louis, Comte de
Clermont-Crèvecœur," which is also translated and edited by Rice/Brown, Volume 1
(pp. 1-100) of their 1972 work cited above
Verger's journal: "Journal of Jan-Baptiste-Antoine de Verger," which is also
translated and edited by Rice/Brown, Volume 1 (pp. 101-188)
Von Closen's journal: The Revolutionary Journal of Baron
Ludwig Von Closen, 1780-1783 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina
Press, 1958), translated and edited with an introduction by Evelyn M. Acomb
Princeton University Library Finding Aids 
View Entire Finding Aid
Download Finding Aid