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108. Plans des différents camps occupés par l'Armée aux ordres de M. Le comte de Rochambeau, undated
Collection Overview
Collection Description & Creator Information
- Scope and Contents
Maps of French Army's Campsites 1-55, from Drinking Spring to Dedham, Massachusetts. The following series of maps depicts the army's camps on its march from Virginia to the Hudson and eventually to Boston. The cover sheet of the "cahier," reproduced here, is the same as the one for the 1781 south-bound camps (No. 26) except for the heading "Amérique/ Campagne/ 1782." As with the earlier series, the maps are so oriented that the direction of the march (generally northward in 1782) is at the top of the sheet; thus the two series appear reversed in relation to each other. In instances where the army camped in 1782 on a site previously occupied in 1781 the cartographer has not repeated the map; the camp is merely recorded in the heading, with a cross-reference to the 1781 map. There are no detailed road maps for the 1782 marches. The route from Williamsburg to Spurrier's Tavern (19th camp, preceding the 20th camp at Baltimore) is described mile by mile in Itinerary 6, which records the march of the wagon train when it took this route in the opposite direction in 1781.
The army moved northward from Williamsburg in four divisions, marching a day apart. The First Division, including the Bourbonnais Regiment, commanded by Major General Chastellux and led by Collot, left on 1 July; the Second Division, including the Royal Deux-Ponts, commanded by Comte Christian de Deux-Ponts and led by Cromot Bubourg, on 2 July; the Third Division, including the Soissonnais, commanded by Comte de Viomenil and led by his nephew Comte d'Ollone, on 3 July; the Fourth Division, including the Saintonge, commanded by Comte de Custine and led by the younger Berthier (Charles-Louis), on 4 July. Meanwhile, the Lauzun Legion had left Petersburg (see note to No. 106) and proceeded via Kingsland Ferry, Richmond, North's Tavern on the Chickahominy, and Hanover Courthouse, to Littlepage's Bridge on the Pamunkey, at which point it became the vanguard of the army, preceding it by two days. The Legion was commanded by the Marquis de Choisy (Lauzun himself had not yet returned from France) and led by Dumas and the elder Berthier (Louis-Alexandre). Rochambeau, who went ahead to confer with Washington in Philadelphia, did not personally accompany the army on the first stages of the march.
- Arrangement
Maps are arranged chronologically by sequential packet number.
- General
These papers are housed in the original red portfolio cases (and order) in which they were presented to the Library in 1939.
Collection History
- Appraisal
No appraisal information is available.
- Processing Information
This collection was word-processed by Anna Bialek in July and August of 2005. Finding aid written by Howard Rice in 1957.
During 2022, restrictions for this collection were lifted as part of a restrictions review project.
Access & Use
- Conditions Governing Access
The collection is open for research.
- Conditions Governing Use
Single copies may be made for research purposes. To cite or publish quotations that fall within Fair Use, as defined under U. S. Copyright Law, no permission is required. For instances beyond Fair Use, it is the responsibility of the researcher to determine whether any permissions related to copyright, privacy, publicity, or any other rights are necessary for their intended use of the Library's materials, and to obtain all required permissions from any existing rights holders, if they have not already done so. Princeton University Library's Special Collections does not charge any permission or use fees for the publication of images of materials from our collections, nor does it require researchers to obtain its permission for said use. The department does request that its collections be properly cited and images credited. More detailed information can be found on the Copyright, Credit and Citations Guidelines page on our website. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us through the Ask Us! form.
- Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
For preservation reasons, original analog and digital media may not be read or played back in the reading room. Users may visually inspect physical media but may not remove it from its enclosure. All analog audiovisual media must be digitized to preservation-quality standards prior to use. Audiovisual digitization requests are processed by an approved third-party vendor. Please note, the transfer time required can be as little as several weeks to as long as several months and there may be financial costs associated with the process. Requests should be directed through the Ask Us Form.
- Credit this material:
108. Plans des différents camps occupés par l'Armée aux ordres de M. Le comte de Rochambeau; Louis-Alexandre Berthier Collection, C0022, Manuscripts Division, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library
- Location:
-
Firestone LibraryOne Washington RoadPrinceton, NJ 08544, USA
- Storage Note:
- Firestone Library (hsvm): Box XII
Find More
- Existence and Location of Copies
This collection is also available in microfilm.
- Separated Materials
Relation de l'Escadre Française, aux ordres du Cher. Destouches, & de l'affaire qui a eue lieu le 16 Mars 1781, entre cette Escadre & celle des Anglais, commandée par l'Amiral Arbuthnot was transferred to rare books (1081.755 EX).
- Bibliography
MS, No. 39. Rochambeau's set of these camp plans is recorded in Philip L. Philips, A List of Maps of America in the Library of Congress (Washington, 1901), pp. 861-862. A somewhat similar series of the 1782 camp, but smaller in size, is in the Huntington Library, MS 621, described above in the "Checklist of Journals," s.v. Soissonnais Regiment. [Rice/Brown, pp. 172-174] Portions of the route through Virginia and Maryland can be traced in Christopher Colles, A Survey of the Roads of the United States of America (1789; facsimile, ed. Walter W. Ristow, 1961), Plates 59-80. A second set of the 1782 camp maps, which once belonged to General Rochambeau, is in the Library of Congress, Map Division. There are a few minor variations, such as uncompleted place names, in the General's set. The plan for the march is outlined in a document dated Williamsburg, 28 June 1782, signed by Bélville, quartermaster-general: "Ordre de Marche pour porter l'armée Françoise aux ordres de M. le Cte. de Rochambeau de ses différens Quartiers en Virginie à George-town sur la Rive gauche du Potowmak où Elle doit rester jusqu'à nouvel ordre en 22 jours de marche y compris Quatre Séjours" (Library of Congress, Rochambeau Papers, Vol. 4, 469-478). The march is briefly described in the journal of Clermont-Crèvecœur, who was with a company of the Auxonne artillery included in the Third Division (pp. 72 ff.); and also, in more detail, in the journal of Verger, of the Deux-Ponts Regiment, Second Division (pp. 159ff.).
- Names:
- France. Armée
Rochambeau, Jean-Baptiste-Donatien de Vimeur, comte de (1725-1807)
