(Chart of Boston Harbor and the surrounding area)
"De Barres' remarkable chart of Boston Harbor is a highly important Revolutionary War map depicting details relating to the Siege of Boston. This is one the most important maps contained in Des Barres' Atlantic Neptune, and one of the most significant maps of the Revolutionary War. Th...
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| Format: | Map |
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J.F.W. Des-Barres
1775
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| Online Access: | https://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~316605~90085226 https://media.davidrumsey.com/MediaManager/srvr?mediafile=/Size4/RUMSEY~8~1/179/10278000.jpg |
| Summary: | "De Barres' remarkable chart of Boston Harbor is a highly important Revolutionary War map depicting details relating to the Siege of Boston. This is one the most important maps contained in Des Barres' Atlantic Neptune, and one of the most significant maps of the Revolutionary War. The map provides a meticulous record of Boston at the beginning of the war, covering the area from the environs of the city out into the open waters of Massachusetts Bay. The map is a working sea-chart, focused upon features such as depth soundings, indicated by detailed lines and based on surveys by Samuel Holland and George Callendar, and the navigable channels between the harbor's numerous shoals, which are delicately outlined in stipple-engraving. Holland's original manuscript map is today preserved in the British Hydrographic Library at Taunton, Somerset. The present map shows the city of Boston, with its streets carefully outlined, occupying a pear-shaped peninsula, a position that would soon prove precarious to its British defenders in the escalating conflict. Joseph Frederick Wallet Des Barres was born in Switzerland, where his Huguenot ancestors had fled following the repeal of the Edict of Nantes. He studied under the great mathematician Daniel Bernoulli at the University of Basel, before immigrating to Britain, where he trained at the Royal Military College, Woolwich. Upon the outbreak of hostilities with France in 1756, he joined the British Royal American Regiment as a military engineer. He came to the attention of General James Wolfe, who appointed him to join his personal detail. During this period he also worked with the legendary future explorer James Cook on a monumental chart of the St. Lawrence River. Upon the conclusion of the Seven Years War, Britain's empire in North America was greatly expanded, and this required the creation of a master atlas featuring new and accurate sea charts for use by the Royal Navy. Des Barres was enlisted to survey the coastlines of Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and the Gulf of St. ... |
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