The 1776-1777 Northern Campaigns of the American War for Independence and Their Sequel: Contemporary Maps of Mainly German Origin

During the American War for Independence, consistent with earlier 18-century practices in Europe, Great Britain contracted for regiments of German soldiers to assist in putting down the rebellion. Various professionally-trained officers with these contingents regularly sent reports to their overlords in Germany, and these often included carefully-drawn maps depicting battles and encampments of the German troops. The maps have remained relatively unknown to American historians of the conflict, while the texts on the maps are written in often-cryptic 18th-century German handwriting requiring specialized transcription and translation. These maps have now been reproduced, with their texts in English, and they form the basis for new interpretations of the War for Independence and, in particular, the role of the German auxiliaries, a subject that has been poorly understood or appreciated. A more balanced analysis of the struggle from the British, German, French, Canadian, and loyalist American perspectives is badly needed, and the maps made by German cartographers and sent home by them add greatly to a better understanding of the bitter conflict that resulted in the creation of the United States.

Co-published with the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum

“This meticulously-researched account of German cartographers, serving among the German auxiliary troops during the 1776-1777 British campaigns, reinterprets and sheds new light on important events that occurred in the Champlain and Hudson Valleys during the American Revolution. The book highlights a collection of striking wartime maps, which have never been published or translated into English. It is a superb work of scholarship based on exhaustive research on both sides of the Atlantic.” — Russell P. Bellico, Professor Emeritus, Westfield State College and author of Sails and Steam in the Mountains: A Maritime and Military History of Lake George and Lake Champlain