Oct. 6, 2021

Lafayette's Map Maker Depicts the Battle of Monmouth

Lafayette's Map Maker Depicts the Battle of Monmouth

The Washington Library at Mount Vernon holds a vast collection of Revolutionary War-era maps, including several carried by the Marquis de Lafayette while he served in the Continental Army. 

One of the most special items in the collection is a manuscript map drawn by Michel Capitaine du Chesnoy, Lafayette's map maker, showing the 1778 Battle of Monmouth.

Our library catalog provides the following description of the battle:

 

"Michel Capitaine du Chesnoy, the Marquis de Lafayette's map maker, drew this map following the Battle of Monmouth Court House in northeastern New Jersey. After confusion surrounding the Continental Army's orders, the soldiers prevented the British troops from advancing. The battle occurred on a hot June day and hundreds of soldiers died of heatstroke. Women, who came to be referred to collectively as “Molly Pitcher,” supported the American troops by bringing water to cool the men and their guns. Although the battle ended inconclusively, it was a turning point for the professionalization of the American army as volunteer French and German military officers provided training."

 

See a high resolution version of du Chesnoy's map here and don't forget to listen to Recruiting the Hero of Two Worlds with Mike Duncan.

 

Jim Ambuske

Host, Producer, Historian, Author

Jim Ambuske, Ph.D., is Historian and Senior Producer at R2 Studios, the podcast division of the Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media at George Mason University. He formerly led the Center for Digital History at the Washington Library. A historian of the American Revolution, Scotland, and the British Atlantic World, Ambuske graduated from the University of Virginia in 2016. He is a former Farmer Postdoctoral Fellow in Digital Humanities at the University of Virginia Law Library. At UVA Law, Ambuske co-directed the 1828 Catalogue Project and the Scottish Court of Session Project. He is currently at work on a book about emigration from Scotland in the era of the American Revolution.