A History of the Campaigns of 1780 and 1781 in the Southern Provinces of North America

Date1787

Maker General Sir Banastre Tarleton (1754-1833)

MediumLetterpress on laid paper; Modern marble paper and leather spine and corners, decorative gold gilt tooling along spine.

DimensionsOH: 11 1/4" x OW: 9" x OD: 2"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number2017-143

DescriptionThe tile page reads: "A / HISTORY/ OF THE/ CAMPAIGNS/ OF/ 1780 AND 1781,/ IN THE/ SOUTHERN PROVINCES/ OF/ NORTH AMERICA./ BY/ LIEUTENANT-COLONEL TARLETON,/ COMMANDANT OF THE LATE BRITISH LEGION./ LONDON:/ PRINTED FOR T. CADELL, IN THE STRAND./ M.DCC.LXXXVII."
Label TextThis account of the later years of the American Revolution was written by Sir Banastre Tarleton, commander of the British Legion at the end of the war and Lieutenant Colonel under General Cornwallis. After Cornwallis' defeat at Yorktown, Tarleton returned to England, where his "History" was published six years after the war ended. The account is considered quite biased due to Tarleton's criticism of Cornwallis, as well as his own vanity as a participant in the campaign.

Contains the following:

"THE MARCHES/ OF/ LORD CORNWALLIS/ IN THE SOUTHERN PROVINCES,/ NOW/ STATES OF NORTH AMERICA;/ Comprehending/ THE TWO CAROLINAS,/ WITH/ VIRGINIA AND MARYLAND,/ and THE DELAWARE COUNTIES./ BY WILLIAM FADEN/ Geographer to the King." (Map)

"PLAN/ of the SIEGE of/ CHARLESTOWN/ in/ South Carolina." (Map)

"PLAN/ of the BATTLE/ Fought near CAMDEN/ August 16th/ 1780." (Map)

"BATTLE OF GUILDFORD,/ Fought on the 15th of March 1781." (Map)

"PLAN/ of the SIEGE of/ YORK TOWN/ in VIRGINIA." (Map)

This copy of "PLAN/ of the SIEGE of/ YORK TOWN/ in VIRGINIA" was published in William C. Wooldridge, "Mapping Virginia: From the Age of Exploration to the Civil War" (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2012), #161, pp. 176-178.