Plan of/ YORK TOWN/ IN VIRGINIA/ AND ADJACENT COUNTRY,/ Exhibiting the operations of the Am-/ erican French & English armies/ during the Siege of that place in Oct. 1781./ Surveyed from the 22.nd to the 26.th Oct.r
Date1823
Maker
John Francis Renault
(d. 1824)
Engraver
Benjamin Tanner (1775-1848)
After work by
Sebastian Bauman
(1739 - 1803)
MediumBlack and white line engraving
DimensionsOH: 32 1/2" x OH" 22 1/4"
Credit LineGift of Mr. and Mrs. Richard F. Barry, III, Mr. and Mrs. Macon F. Brock, Mr. and Mrs. David R. Goode, Mr. and Mrs. Conrad M. Hall, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas G. Johnson, Jr., Mr. and Mrs. Charles W. Moorman, IV, and Mr. and Mrs. Richard D. Roberts.
Object number2017-242
DescriptionThe upper left cartouche reads: "Plan of/ YORK TOWN/ IN VIRGINIA/ AND ADJACENT COUNTRY,/ Exhibiting the operations of the Am-/ erican French & English armies/ during the Siege of that place in Oct. 1781./ Surveyed from the 22.nd to the 26.th Oct.r"Text below the key reads: "Drawn by J.n F. Renault./ with a Crow-pen and presented to the MARQUIS DE LA FAYETTE./ Engraved by B. Tanner."
Label TextThis map of the Yorktown battlefield was first advertised for sale in 1823 along with a print of the surrender at Yorktown after the work of an artist named John Francis Renault. (see 1986-122). Though there is no evidence to substantiate the claim, Renault claimed that he was present at the battle and served as the secretary to the Comte de Grasse. The mysterious artist spent nearly 20 years acquiring subscriptions for the print (without ever mentioning the accompanying map) until he was implicated by several newspapers in Virginia and North Carolina as a fraud. In 1818, Renault finally settled on Benjamin Tanner (1775-1848) and his firm Tanner, Vallance, Kearny, & Co to serve as the engravers for his ambitious work. Unfortunately, the firm dissolved due to financial difficulties the following year. Tanner struck out on his own taking the finished copper plate for the print of the surrender.
In 1823, several months after Renault's death, Tanner announced the publication the print and an accompanying map of the Yorktown battlefield purported to be another original design by Renault (see 2017-242). The overall design and geography are copied directly from a 1782 map by Major Sebastian Bauman, an artillery officer who served in the battle who surveyed the battlefield days after the surrender. The map is inscribed by Renault between the crossed flags: "Drawn by J.n Renault/ with a crow pen and presented to the MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE." There is no evidence that the map was presented to Lafayette during his 1824-1825 tour of America. Benjamin Tanner alone signed this plate as the engraver, suggesting that he completed it after the firm Tanner, Vallence, Kearny, & Co. dissolved.
InscribedSigned in pencil at lower left: B.Tanner
1785-1800
1730 to 1732
