![photomechanical print from painting of Rochambeau head-and-shoulders portrait, facing front]](https://blogs.loc.gov/maps/files/2024/11/Gen-roch.jpg)
If you are reading this blog, it is probably no surprise to you that maps have been an important part of the Library of Congress collections since the Library was established in 1800. In fact, one of our most notable Americana map collections was purchased by the Library of Congress in 1883—fourteen years before the Hall of Maps and Charts (predecessor to the Geography and Map Division) was even established! This remarkable collection eponymously named the “Jean-Baptiste-Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau, papers, 1777–94,” is comprised of correspondence, histories, papers, and maps that belonged to the commander-in-chief of the French expeditionary army (1780–82) during the American Revolution—French General Rochambeau (1725–1807). At a time when most acquisitions (including maps) were obtained by the Library through copyright deposit, the Rochambeau collection was considered such a valuable artifact of American culture that it was approved for purchase from Eugène Achille Lacroix de Vimeur (1836–97) for $20,000. (That is roughly $625,00 today.)
Once the Hall of Maps and Charts was established as a custodial division, the maps from this manuscript collection were transferred to the division. The Geography and Map Division holds them in a special collection known as the Rochambeau Map Collection. The collection includes this bound atlas, Amérique, Campagne 1782, which once belonged to General Rochambeau himself. It is a compendium of manuscript maps, in pen-and-ink and watercolor, created after the British surrender at Yorktown on October 19, 1781. The maps depict French army camps during their march north to Boston, Massachusetts from Williamsburg, Virginia.
After wintering in Williamsburg, the French army started their long march to Boston in July 1782. The soldiers passed through nine states and present-day District of Columbia in four divisions, each a day’s march apart. Below is map 20 from the atlas. It shows the 20th French encampment in Baltimore where the French solders rested for a month before continuing north. The yellow rectangles on the map signify French forces and red rectangles signify artillery.
The French army continued north averaging about 10-15 miles per day. They met up with the Continental Army between August 31 and September 3, 1782 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Below is the 27th French encampment in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
After 54 encampments, the French army reached their final destination in Boston in December 1782. Their 600 mile route approximately parallels present-day Interstate 95 and U.S. Route 1.
The Rochambeau map collection consists of 40 manuscript maps, 26 printed maps, and a manuscript atlas that belonged to General Rochambeau. Some of the maps, which date from 1717 to 1795, were used by the General during the war. The maps cover much of eastern North America, from Newfoundland and Labrador in the north to Haiti in the south. The collection includes maps of cities, maps showing Revolutionary War battles and military campaigns, and early state maps from the 1790s.
Learn more about General Rochambeau and the French expeditionary army contributions to the Revolutionary War in the 4 Corners of the World blogpost, “Franco-American Revolution, Part 2.”