A PLAN OF THE/ TOWN and HARBOUR of/ BOSTON./ and the Country adjacent with the Road/ from Boston to Concord/ Shewing the Place of the late Engagement/ between the King's Troops & the Provincials,

Date1775

Cartographer Jonathan Carver (1732 - 1780)

Publisher John De Costa

Engraver C. Hall

OriginEngland, London

MediumLine engraving on laid paper with hand color

DimensionsOverall (Trimmed): 15 × 19in. (38.1 × 48.3cm) Framed: 23 × 26 1/2 × 7/8in.

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1963-730

DescriptionThe lower left cartouche reads: "A PLAN OF THE/ TOWN and HARBOUR of/ BOSTON./ and the Country adjacent with the Road/ from Boston to Concord/ Shewing the Place of the late Engagement/ between the King's Troops & the Provincials,/ together with the several Encampments of/ both Armies in & about Boston./ Taken from an Actual Survey/ Humbly Inscribed to Rich/d Whitworth/ Esq.r Member of Parliament for Stafford./ By his most Obedient Servant/ J: De Costa"

The lower margin reads: "London Publish'd as the Act directs July 29.th 1775. by De Costa Red Cross Street Southwark./ C. Hall sc."
Label TextThis is the first map published to depict a battle of the Revolutionary War. The skirmish at Lexington and Concord was important not so much for its military significance, but rather for its psychological effect on both sides at the beginning.

General Thomas Gage, British commander in chief, sent a company of troops to Concord to confiscate the powder belonging to the Massachusetts Continental Congress. The Boston patriots, aware of the mission, dispatched Paul Revere and William Dawes to Lexington to alert the local militia. After a confrontation at Lexington, with casualties, the troops continued their march to Concord. Having been warned, the patriots hid most of their arsenal and retreated across the river to await reinforcements. When the British began their march back to Boston, the militia banded together and attacked from all sides, hiding behind trees and fences. The British forces were reinforced with troops under Lord Hugh Percy, but the Americans persisted and the British fled in defeat back to Boston.